Chapter 193

The Chief Astrologer at the Ministry of Rites was just a minor official of the eighth rank, even lower in position than Mu Yunchuan.

Normally, there wouldn’t be any connection between them.

But the functions of the Ministry of Rites were well-known, even among common people.

It was responsible for observing celestial phenomena, calculating seasonal changes, and predicting good or bad fortune.

With Mu Yunchuan about to go on an assignment, doing the kind of laborious work involved in disaster relief, it would be perfectly normal for him to have some interaction with officials from the Ministry of Rites before his departure, to ask them to calculate the celestial phenomena and auspiciousness of the journey.

So when Lao Buyu informed them of the situation regarding the Cao official’s family, he didn’t say much more, as he thought along the same lines.

But Shen Cui didn’t agree.

In the original book, Mu Yunchuan wasn’t someone who believed in superstitions. Just imagine, the genius protagonist of the imperial examination, who had endured three years of hardship after achieving Top Six Excellence, and was about to embark on a major assignment, actually wanted to consult officials from the Ministry of Rites about his luck.

Wouldn’t that diminish his image? It would immediately make readers doubt his capabilities.

So, this was just Mu Yunchuan’s way of making others believe that.

As for his true intentions, it must be related to the strange occurrences involving the rules of the dimension.

What kind of strange occurrences made him so nervous? Willing to let others believe that he wasn’t confident about his upcoming assignment?

It must be the two times the rules ‘appeared’.

It’s ironic.

Earlier, Shen Cui had been careful in front of Mu Yunchuan, wanting to show that she was different from before but not wanting him to notice that she had changed, fearing he might use it against her.

But now, after all these twists and turns, the one Mu Yunchuan was treating as a threat was the dimensional rule that had been supporting him all this time.

The fact that the son of the dimension was seeking help to deal with the rules… It felt both funny and satisfying!

Feeling quite pleased, Shen Cui first informed Zhou Shi about the situation with the Cao official’s family, and then started preparing for the New Year gifts.

While she listened to the young men studying, she also expressed some concerns to the system: “The rules can perceive everything. Currently, Mu Yunchuan isn’t following its arrangements — keeping Zhou Shu at home and going to the Ministry of Rites to deal with it. We all know that regardless of whether the Ministry of Rites has any real ability, it won’t be able to do much. It might just attract the attention of the rules. I’m not worried about anything else, after all, Mu Yunchuan is the son of this dimension, his own flesh and blood, so these small actions might seem to the rules like dealing with a rebellious child. But when it comes to our students, it won’t be so lenient.”

【Host, don’t worry. We have the academy, which, in your words, acts as a shield.】

【Of course, I’m not worried when they’re in the academy, but I am concerned about what might happen afterwards when they’re not.】

【As I mentioned before, the energy I’m currently gathering is not enough to directly oppose it, but it will also consider me and not go all out against us.】

After thinking for a while, Shen Cui asked, “Is it possible that instead of going all out, it might influence others, such as the Emperor or the chief examiners? After all, they are the ones who truly hold the power.

Even if our students perform exceptionally well, with one command from them, our students won’t make it to the top of the list, and we won’t be able to pass.”

【That won’t happen either. Host, don’t forget this is the world of imperial examination essays. Mu Yunchuan is defying fate by following the path of imperial examinations. If it can’t even guarantee the basic fairness of the imperial examination system, then the rules themselves would collapse.】

The logic here is a bit convoluted.

Shen Cui pondered for a moment and realized that it made sense.

If the rules wanted to eliminate their students, they wouldn’t need to bother creating so many flaws and obstacles for them.

They could just let them take the exam freely and then have the chief examiners directly reject them.

There’s no need to go through such elaborate schemes.

So, the key is to ensure the fairness of the imperial examination, while also preventing them from standing out.

Isn’t that where we should focus our efforts?

With a slightly relieved heart, Shen Cui couldn’t help but sigh, jokingly saying, “Luckily you didn’t tell me the true intention of the system when you came up. Otherwise, Knowing that the real goal is to oppose the rules of this plane, I would have been nervous and scared for quite a while.”

Just the fact that Mu Yunchuan, the son of the plane, was ahead, made Shen Cui tremble with fear.

If she had known early on that the true enemy was the rules of this plane—this is almost equivalent to being transported to a cultivation world, starting out by telling the cannon fodder that they can’t cultivate themselves and could only cultivate cultivators, and then having to confront the Heavenly Dao.

It’s easy to understand that overcoming psychological barriers alone would take a lot of effort.

The voice of the system carried a hint of amusement as it said, “So, some things are not better understood early on. Anyway, the host has come this far step by step, just one step away from clearing the level.”

Shen Cui couldn’t be bothered to respond to his encouragement.

Even if she were anxious, she couldn’t convey that feeling to the youngsters, lest the heavy burden be transferred to them, becoming their burden.

…

With only a few days left until the New Year, the Zhou Shi had already prepared the New Year’s gifts for the Mu family.

There was only one thing Zhou Shi couldn’t decide on and she consulted with Shen Cui.

It wasn’t anything else but whether or not to send New Year’s gifts to the Pang family.

Pang Cifu’s reputation in the court was second only to Elder Shen and a few other old officials.

His role as the chief examiner for the new imperial examination was no longer a secret in the capital.

The more discerning scholars had already started taking action.

Shen Cui had never done the thing of giving gifts to the chief examiner.

The only one who had given a gift was Liu Xuezheng.

But that was a token of gratitude for his care for them as prefectural students during his term in office, long before the provincial examination.

Lao Buyu happened to be present, and after hearing Zhou’s words, he chimed in, “I’ve also heard a lot of news lately. Thinking that the headmaster has never been fond of these things, I deliberately didn’t mention it. But now seeing everyone else making moves, following this trend, if we don’t act after the New Year, our family might become a special case.”

Shen Cui nodded to indicate that she understood, but still said, “There are still a few days left until the New Year, let’s observe a little longer.”

Shen Cui didn’t insist on establishing any different personas for the children of the academy.

It was just that in the original plot, Pang Cifu hadn’t become influential yet.

Although he was already scheming for power, at this time, his thoughts were still on maintaining a low profile and waiting for Elder Shen to step down so he could take over as the prime minister.

Especially since this was his first time presiding over the imperial examination, only someone with shortsightedness would try to accumulate wealth at such a critical juncture.

Sure enough, as Shen Cui had expected, at the last court meeting before the New Year, Pang Cifu reported this matter to the current ruler.

He even presented a list detailing the scholars who had sent him gifts recently, along with the gifts they had given.

After the ruler looked it over, although he didn’t get angry, he only praised Pang Cifu for his integrity.

But this matter quickly spread throughout the capital.

Those scholars who had spent all their money and given expensive gifts were scared out of their wits.

Even before the outcome was decided, they were already considered to have lost half.

Meanwhile, honest scholars like Shen Cui’s group who had been observing felt relieved!

On the first day of the lunar new year, the capital was extremely lively.

Firecrackers were popping, and the streets were packed with people, bustling with noise.

The people here were more open-minded than those in the Linan Prefecture. Regardless of age or status, families would go out together at this time.

The new location of Cuiwei Academy was usually quiet, but during this time, you could often hear the cheerful laughter of children outside.

On the first day of the lunar new year, even before dawn, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks outside continued incessantly, never stopping.

This was inevitable. After all, the people here were wealthier than those in other places. With more money to spare, they naturally wouldn’t skimp on celebrating.

According to etiquette, Mu Yunchuan was supposed to come to pay New Year’s respects to Shen Cui early in the morning.

But considering the somewhat favorable relationship between the two parties now, and knowing that he would soon be transferred elsewhere and wouldn’t be back for over half a year, Shen Cui suggested that they didn’t need to bother coming over.

After all, they hadn’t prepared anything to entertain guests at the academy.

The young men hadn’t slept well, so they decided to get up a bit earlier than usual and study in the classroom.

Studying in this environment was really difficult, especially after spending so long in the capital, where they had hardly left their homes to avoid attracting attention.

Shen Cui decided to give everyone half a day off and took them out for a stroll.

Since it was the New Year, there were plenty of people out and about on the streets, so they could blend in with the crowd without drawing attention.

When the young men went out, they usually visited stationery shops and bookstores.

However, these shops were closed on the first day of the lunar new year, so they didn’t know where else to go.

At this moment, it was Lao Buyu who took the lead and mentioned that there was a nearby Daoist temple where the God of Literature, Wen Chang Di Jun, was worshipped.

Wen Chang Di Jun was revered by scholars and students throughout history as he governed the literary fortunes of the world.

With the imperial examination approaching, paying respects might bring good luck.

When Shen Cui and the others arrived at the temple, it was crowded with people, bustling with activity.

Most of the visitors were scholars or their families.

Everyone was dressed similarly, so Shen Cui’s group easily blended in without worrying about standing out.

After waiting in line for half an hour, they finally entered the main hall.

Shen Cui and Lao Buyu were at the front, while the young men were at the back. Their desires were mostly the same, so the wishes they made were quite similar.

Lao Buyu murmured, “I hope all the students of the academy will make it to the top.”

The others all said, “I hope all the classmates of Cuiwei will excel in their studies.”

However, Cui Fei was different from the others. While he also hoped for everyone’s success, he added at the end, “I dare not hope for the top ranks, just praying for the God to bless me with a passing grade.”

It was both amusing and touching.

The year quickly passed, and before the end of the first lunar month, scholars from all over the country gathered in the capital to begin the registration process.

At this time, Mu Yunchuan also officially received his assignment to go out and provide disaster relief.

It was said that the weather had been abnormal in Linan Prefecture last year, and in even northern regions, there hadn’t been a single rain since the Dragon Boat Festival.

He wouldn’t be able to return for a year or so.

Before leaving, Mu Yunchuan made another visit to Cuiwei Academy and entrusted Zhou Shi to Shen Cui with great solemnity.

Looking at Mu Er Pang standing beside him, Mu Yunchuan had something to say, but in the end, he just gave him a deep look.

Mu Er Pang didn’t do what he expected.

He patted his chest and smiled, saying, “Big brother, rest assured. I’m all grown up now. When you’re not here, I’ll naturally take care of the family, be filial to mother, take care of sister-in-law, and give my all in the imperial examination in February.”

Seeing his sincere smile, Mu Yunchuan couldn’t help but smile too.

Finally, he asked Shen Cui for a private conversation.

Thinking he was still worried about Zhou Shi, Shen Cui directly said to him, “When you were away for the previous examination, Zhou Shi stayed by my side for several years. You know our relationship, and I can’t guarantee that she’ll fully recover in six months, but I won’t let her suffer like before. You can rest assured.”

Zhou Shi hadn’t continued to lose weight recently, and Mu Yunchuan knew about this, so he nodded to indicate his understanding.

Then, he suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question, “Who is wiser, the teacher or the merchant?”

Before Shen Cui could figure out what he meant, he left Cuiwei Academy.