Chapter 143

Shen Cui, Mu Er Pang, and Lao Buyu went together to see the list.

Mu Er Pang had achieved the top score in the county exams, but Lao Buyu, as a teacher, did not join them.

So, this was his first time seeing Mu Er Pang’s name at the top of the list.

Previously, when Shen Cui and the elderly couple had seen the list for the first time, they were so excited that it took them a while to calm down.

Shen Cui, usually composed, had even become teary-eyed due to the emotional rollercoaster.

Therefore, today Shen Cui quickly gave Mu Er Pang a look to support him.

After all, it was fine for common people like them to lose composure, but Lao Buyu had always wanted to maintain his dignity in front of others.

Mu Er Pang immediately understood and reached out to assist, but Lao Buyu glanced at him and calmly said, “Being first in the prefectural exams is nothing to be excited about.”

Dressed as a Confucian scholar with a headband, his composed demeanor and words immediately gained him respect.

Someone approached them respectfully and inquired, “Sir, are you the top scorer in this year’s prefectural exams? No wonder you have such grace!”

Lao Buyu, with his hands behind his back, calmly replied, “I am not a student. You must have mistaken me.”

The person was embarrassed, “But I clearly heard…”

Lao Buyu then pointed to Mu Er Pang standing beside him and said, “He is the top scorer in the prefectural exams.”

The person was surprised to see such a young top scorer.

Lao Buyu then calmly added, “I am merely his teacher.”

This revelation caused everyone to focus their attention on Lao Buyu.

Comparing the two, Mu Er Pang was just a teenager, while Lao Buyu seemed like a sage.

The person respectfully commented, “Sir, you truly do not reveal your true self. To be able to educate such a young top scorer…”

His loud voice attracted others who were looking at the list.

They came over to offer compliments and inquire about his teaching methods.

Shen Cui and Mu Er Pang exchanged amused glances.

Seeing that Lao Buyu did not seem annoyed, they continued to look at the rankings.

Just as they were talking, Shen Aosuang, who had seen the list, walked calmly past them, completely ignoring their presence.

The three of them exchanged glances, feeling both helpless and amused.

However, it was just a small incident, and they didn’t dwell on it any further.

Although all three of them were listed on the board, it was a bit awkward to congratulate each other due to Zhao Xiuwen’s poor performance.

Zhao Xiuwen and He Qing were both from farming families and had similar personalities.

Seeing them hesitate to speak, Zhao Xiuwen guessed that they were feeling sorry for him and took the initiative to explain, “I messed up on the last question.”

This was quite understandable because Zhao’s family was just a typical farming family, and compared to those with more resources, they were at a disadvantage.

The last question required extensive reading and understanding, which was quite challenging.

As the crowd gathered around the list, the three of them wanted to have a detailed conversation.

Mu Er Pang went back to inform Shen Cui that he was going to join them, but when he returned, he found that Lao Buyu was surrounded by even more people.

Shen Cui told Mu Er Pang to go ahead and attend the gathering, but to come back before lunch.

She waited for a while, but Lao Buyu was still engrossed in conversation with the crowd.

“It’s not easy to cultivate a scholar. You should understand this. These are just the surface-level challenges; the road ahead is long and arduous,” Lao Buyu said, seizing the opportunity to disperse the crowd and calling Shen Cui to leave the place.

After walking for about half an hour, Shen Cui hesitated to speak, and Lao Buyu cleared his throat, “I know you thought I would be emotionally excited, and I did speak a bit too much just now. But they are all family members of the candidates in this year’s exam. Empathy is important. If Mu Er Pang hadn’t performed well, and I had encountered the top scorer, I would have wanted to learn from him too. It’s like the saying goes, ‘Giving happiness to others brings happiness to oneself.’ I offered them some advice, but how much they choose to heed it is up to them.”

The other two who had formed bonds with Mu Er Pang, Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen, achieved sixth and twenty-fifth place, respectively.

Ren Shun had performed well in the county exams and had ranked fifth but did not fare as well in the prefectural exams.

As expected, He Qing and Zhang Zian’s names were not on the list.

After going through the list once, Mu Er Pang started from the top again, worried that he might have missed something.

Coincidentally, he encountered a familiar face from the exam room, the young man who sat next to him during the prefectural exams.

Mu Er Pang nodded at him, but the other person did not react at all.

Seeing this, Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen pulled Mu Er Pang aside. Ren Shun said, “The guy you just nodded to is Shen Aosuang, the top scorer from our county. He’s quite arrogant, living up to his name. Today, you’ve outperformed him again, and he only got second place. So… but let’s not talk about you; even those of us who took the county exams together rarely get a nod from him. You shouldn’t lower yourself to his level.”

Shen Cui nodded enthusiastically.

Since the incident with Wei Shu leaving Qingzhu, she had come to realize that Lao Buyu truly had a heart for educating others.

Currently, there were no plans to enroll new students at the academy. Lao Buyu’s advice to other parents about their children’s education was completely in line with his character.

However, there was something she couldn’t avoid mentioning.

Shen Cui reluctantly said, “I didn’t question Master’s intention, but… it seems like this road isn’t leading back to the academy.”

Lao Buyu, usually calm and composed, couldn’t hide his embarrassment this time. He turned around and realized they had completely gone the wrong way!

“Don’t tell Han Shan!” Lao Buyu jokingly ‘threatened’ Shen Cui.

Suppressing her laughter, Shen Cui nodded, “I won’t tell him, I promise.”

Shen Cui had put in a lot of effort over the years to maintain Lao Buyu’s image as a teacher.

For instance, she never mentioned to the children about the incident when Lao Buyu nearly ran away overnight.

Lao Buyu naturally trusted her.

Moreover, it was still early, and there weren’t many pedestrians on the street. Mu Er Pang wasn’t around either.

So, Lao Buyu decided to drop the act.

He laughed heartily, feeling as if he could skip at any moment.

It was understandable why he was so happy. After all, none of the other students at the academy had been under his tutelage from the very beginning like Mu Er Pang.

From barely knowing the basics to where he was now, Mu Er Pang’s progress was truly something to be proud of!

“Er Pang went to meet with his fellow students from the same year. He won’t be back until before lunch. How about we buy some wine and have a toast to celebrate?” They happened to pass by a small tavern, so Shen Cui suggested this.

The aroma of the wine tempted Lao Buyu, but he shook his head firmly. “I’ve promised to quit drinking. While I’m happy today, it’s not a good idea to break that promise. Besides, I have another way to celebrate!”

With that, Lao Buyu quickened his pace towards the academy.

He was tall and had long legs, making it difficult for Shen Cui to keep up.

Eventually, she gave up and decided to find her own way back to the academy.

After returning to the academy one after the other, Shen Cui had barely settled down on her chair when Lao Buyu handed her an envelope, asking her to send it to someone.

Since coming to the capital, Shen Cui had been writing letters to her family every month, and her family must have been very worried about the results of the provincial exam.

She had indeed planned to write a letter and send it to them.

“However, the merchants I know usually travel between Yongning County and Qingzhou Prefecture. If it’s going to another place…”

Shen Cui didn’t finish her sentence because she had noticed that the envelope was addressed to “Ling Qingming, Qingzhu Academy, Yongning County.”

Lao Buyu’s “celebration” method was to send a letter! When Shen Cui took the envelope, her expression became quite complex.

This didn’t feel like a regular letter; it was heavy and thick, almost like a brick! Thankfully, sending letters via the merchant caravans in those days was based on the destination rather than the weight, unlike the postal services in later eras!

Before lunch, Mu Er Pang returned from outside, seeming preoccupied.

Without anyone asking, he brought it up himself at the dining table.

It turned out that after meeting with Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen in front of the exam results, they had only briefly discussed the last question.

But later, during breakfast, they had a more detailed conversation.

Zhao Xiuwen hadn’t been wrong. He had indeed lost out due to insufficient reading. He hadn’t completed the last question.

In the first two exams, there wasn’t much difference in their levels among the three of them.

Ren Shun had access to a rich collection of books at home, and his answer to the last question was almost identical to Mu Er Pang’s.

However, he missed a part of the first law question because he had only memorized the laws of the current dynasty and hadn’t compared them with those of previous dynasties.

Although there was a noticeable gap in their rankings, especially for Zhao Xiuwen, in terms of their knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics, the difference among them wasn’t significant.

After a pleasant exchange, Ren Shun asked Mu Er Pang a question that seemed to weigh heavily on his mind: whether he would participate in this year’s academy examination.

The academy examination was held twice every three years, following the rotation of the educational authorities.

Every three years, at the end of the year when the educational authorities changed, there would be a provincial examination.

Then, in the following year, during the first year of the new authority’s tenure, there would be an academy examination.

There would be a gap of one year between each examination, and it would be held again in the year of the next change in authority.

In simpler terms, three years ago, Mu Yunchuan took the entrance exam organized by the previous head of the academy.

It was the first one held during their term. The exam where Wei Shu and Wei Xi, as well as Mei Ruochu, took part in, was the last one.

Before the annual exam last year, a new head of the academy had taken office, so they’re still holding the entrance exam this year.

Mu Hanshan, who’s usually known as Mu Er Pang, never really thought about this issue before.

He always felt he started learning later than his peers, and his study time was shorter.

Even last year, he wasn’t sure if he was capable enough when preparing for the exam.

He even asked for advice from his friend, Shen Cui, and received encouragement from his mother before daring to attempt it this year.

Unexpectedly, both exams went smoothly for him.

So, it wasn’t until now, when Ren Shun brought it up, that Mu Er Pang started thinking about this issue.

Before he could answer, Ren Shun said, “I’ve never heard of anyone who became the top scorer in both the county and prefectural exams without proceeding to the next level. My question was indeed unnecessary. Brother Mu, what you might worry about is just whether you can maintain your lead in the entrance exam!”

That statement invisibly added a lot of pressure on Mu Er Pang.

Because he still felt he had only studied for three years and wasn’t the brightest in the academy.

Getting the top score in the county exam was a stroke of luck, and in the prefectural exam, it was because the academy’s library happened to have relevant materials.

Lao Buyu had also mentioned something about the Six Classics recently, which surprisingly improved his memory.

He had been struggling hard to recall everything, almost falling ill, causing everyone to worry.

After all was said and done, Mu Er Pang still felt luck played a significant role in both exams, leaving him uncertain.

Especially since the entrance exam would test him on something he was least skilled at—poetry writing.

And because it only covered two parts, the proportion of poetry writing was significant.

If his poetry wasn’t good, he wouldn’t make the cut, let alone secure the top spot.

Lao Buyu encouraged him, saying, “Over the years, I’ve taught you everything I could. What’s left is either beyond my expertise or something I can’t teach you. Passing the entrance exam means you’ll enter the prefectural academy, just like Wei Shu and the others. There, professors and mentors will guide you, and you’ll get better over time. If you don’t pass…what’s there to fear? The academy will still be here, and so will I. We’ll continue, teacher and student!”

Mu Er Pang nodded, then looked at Shen Cui, who also expressed her support, saying, “I don’t have such grand ambitions to groom you into a top scholar. If you want to try, then go ahead. As Master said, if you pass, it’s naturally a good thing, and if you don’t, it’s fine too. As Master said, just keep working hard!”