Chapter 59
Although Qingzhu Academy’s meals were prepared quite well, they were even more abundant than what Shen Cui used to have at home.

Because of this abundance, Shen Cui, under Zhang Sheng’s identity, ended up eating half a steamed bun more than usual.

As a result, even though more than an hour had passed, she still felt quite full.

But Mu Er Pang’s eyes were filled with concern as he looked at her. She couldn’t eat, nor could she not eat, so she had to say, “I… I just had a stomach ache. If I eat now, it might bother me later.”

“I understand, so I’ve removed all the greasy dishes.”

Mu Er Pang didn’t persuade her anymore, but his expression clearly said, “You see, I knew you weren’t feeling well yet.”

It seemed that in the next moment, he would force Shen Cui to see the doctor again.

Her own son was so clueless and innocent, like a blank sheet of paper. Shen Cui was afraid she wouldn’t be able to teach him well.

Now that he had grown up, he had become a little steward. Shen Cui quickly surrendered and said, “I’ll eat, okay?”

Under Mu Er Pang’s watchful gaze, Shen Cui forced herself to eat a steamed bun.

The weather was still hot, and people were busy outside, so it was normal to have a smaller appetite. Mu Er Pang didn’t say much more.

The group returned to Shuiyun Village before it got dark.

This time, Shen Cui had also invited Zhou Shi to go with them.

Although Zhou Shi couldn’t help much, missing such a once-in-three-years literary event would be a pity.

Zhou Shi said she couldn’t leave her work, so she didn’t go with them. But as someone who admired literature, she was also curious and looking forward to such a grand event.

When everyone came back, she had already prepared dinner almost ready. She carefully checked everyone’s expressions and saw smiles on everyone’s faces before inquiring about the specifics.

Mu Er Pang explained everything to her in detail, attributing his own victory to good luck. As for Wei Xi and Zhang Sheng’s two victories, he praised them generously.

“That young man is amazing. He’s only fourteen years old. He closed his eyes, opened them, and quickly wrote all the answers in one go. Not only was he the fastest, but he also got all the answers right!”

In Mu Er Pang’s eyes, or in the eyes of everyone except Shen Cui, Zhang Sheng, who could complete nine math problems in his head within a quarter of an hour without using scratch paper, was undoubtedly a math genius.

Zhou Shi had always regarded Mu Yunchuan as the smartest person, but she didn’t expect there to be such a talent in the world. She regretted, “It’s a pity I didn’t get to meet this young master Zhang. But why didn’t you invite him to dinner at our house? He’s not familiar with this place, and we don’t know if he has had dinner yet.”

Lao Buyu glanced at the still bright sky outside, hesitated, and said, “Should I go and fetch him now?”

Shen Cui hurriedly stopped them. Although there was still plenty of time left for the effect of the first Disguise Pill, she really couldn’t handle two meals. It would be inconvenient to keep changing her appearance back and forth at home.

“Zhang Sheng is staying with distant relatives, so it would be inconvenient to disturb them. Next time, we’ll invite him over if there’s a chance.”

So everyone didn’t dwell on this topic and sat down to have dinner.

Shen Cui now felt that she could barely swallow the meals from noon and afternoon, so she just ate a little.

After dinner, Lao Buyu began to explain the focus of the retest tomorrow to everyone.

Although the retest still focused on the same few items, each academy could only send one person per small competition, so they could no longer use the advantage of having more people to raise the average score.

Moreover, the difficulty would be significantly increased. For example, taking the pitching of a pot as an example, in today’s preliminary test, the distance between the person and the pot was ten to twenty steps. In the retest, the distance would be even farther.

Furthermore, in the retest, the judges would have greater authority. They had the right to handpick an outstanding student from a non-affiliated academy and directly advance that student’s academy to the next round.

“Of course, with this kind of authority…” Lao Buyu blushed a bit as he spoke, “I heard that in a previous academy competition, several judges colluded and used this authority to ensure the advancement of the other academy… It was later exposed, and not only was their academy permanently excluded from such competitions, but they also became a laughingstock. So nowadays, judges are generally reluctant to do such things, as it is easy to provoke criticism and suspicion of their hidden agenda. We should stay grounded and compete fairly.”

This was actually good news for Cuiwei Academy, a small academy without a background.

Mu Er Pang then went to practice pitching pots. Although it was dark outside, lighting two candles in the hall for him and Wei Xi only slightly reduced visibility compared to during the day.

Wei Xi naturally practiced playing the zither.

Shen Cui found a corner in the academy and went through all the example problems in the arithmetic books from beginning to end.

Everyone practiced diligently, and soon the night passed.

The next morning, Shen Cui really couldn’t eat breakfast—she had eaten too much yesterday, which had given her heartburn all night.

Mu Er Pang knew she didn’t want to see the doctor or take herbal medicine, so he tentatively asked, “Then, Mom, are you going to stay home today?”

This was just right, saving her from running around in disguise today. She could follow them and stay in the examination room all day as Zhang Sheng.

She readily agreed, “Okay, even if I go, I can’t change the results. You guys just relax and do your best.”

After giving instructions, Shen Cui looked at Zhou Shi. She regretted missing the preliminary test the day before and had intended to go watch the retest today. But when she heard that Shen Cui was staying home to rest, she held back her words.

“You should go too. I’ll stay home and rest quietly. I’ll be fine when you come back.”

She now had a more commanding presence in the household. With a few instructions, no one would defy her.

After ‘sending’ them out the door, Shen Cui bolted the door from the inside, locked the bedroom, and then waited for about two quarters of an hour. She climbed out the window, then climbed over the mud wall, and followed them into the city.

Finding a secluded corner with no one around, she changed her disguise. Shen Cui then confirmed in the system the remaining time for her transformation—it was still about two or three hours.

She didn’t know the order of the retest competitions today. If the math test was scheduled for later, this amount of time would definitely not be enough.

After hesitating for a while, she was at a loss for words, and the system spoke up: [Host, add the ‘Disguise Pill’ to your shopping cart. When there is less than two quarters of an hour left for the transformation, I will remind you. Use it directly in your mind to extend the transformation time.]

With the system’s help, Shen Cui no longer hesitated. She didn’t dwell on the fact that the system had set a trap for her earlier. She chatted casually with it while hurrying to the academy.

The preliminary test the day before had eliminated about half of the academies, but there were still twenty to thirty academies advancing to the retest.

The required space was still considerable, so the retest was held in the same place as the day before.
The stands were still there, and even the academies that were eliminated in the preliminary test could lead their students to watch the retest from the stands.

Shen Cui arrived a little later than Lao Buyu and the others. When she saw ‘him’ from afar, Lao Buyu waved to signal her over.

When Shen Cui approached, Lao Buyu, knowing that ‘he’ couldn’t speak, didn’t ask any questions, which saved Shen Cui from having to make up stories on the spot.

When it was fully light outside, the first round of competition began.

In a reversal of yesterday’s order, the first competition was the ‘ritual’ competition.

The people from the academies had just watched the preliminary competition yesterday. The grace and precision of the movements in that competition could not have been achieved without years of hard practice. Shen Cui was about to forfeit, but then realized she couldn’t speak now.

With the head of the academy absent, Lao Buyu naturally took charge and announced their forfeiture, earning several sharp glances from Ling Qingming.

After the competition started, Shen Cui rested her chin in her hand and quietly watched the students perform. Suddenly, she felt Mu Er Pang nudge her.

Turning her head, she saw Mu Er Pang take out a cloth bundle from his pocket. When he opened it, there was a big steamed bun inside.

Needless to say, it was specially brought for ‘him’.

Shen Cui felt a bit nauseous at the sight of food now. She endured the discomfort and patted her stomach to indicate that she had already eaten. She then thanked Mu Er Pang with a gesture.

None of them were experts in ritual studies, so they didn’t notice where the difficulty of the retest lay.

Soon, it was time for the second round, the ‘music’ competition.

As Shen Cui had anticipated the day before, the preliminary test involved dance music, so this round focused on musical instruments.

Wei Xi held his ancient zither as he stepped onto the stage, while students from other academies played flutes, xiaos, and, of course, many played the zither like him.

With their own person on stage, Shen Cui and the others paid more attention to the performance and finally saw the increased difficulty—

Unlike the previous day when everyone performed together after the topic was announced, in the retest, the judges randomly selected a piece of music, and the selected students had to play individually in front of them.

When the judges moved to stand in front of other students, the students who had been playing had to stop, and the next students had to start immediately.

After a piece was played, the judges would change, and a new judge would come up with a new piece of music. Then, it was like a game of passing the drum, with each student playing in turn.

This not only tested their skills but also their ability to react and their familiarity with various musical scores.

Since the zither was the most common instrument, the judges initially chose widely known pieces like “Yang Chun Bai Xue” and “Gao Shan Liu Shui.” However, considering that some used flutes and xiaos, the judges later introduced a flute piece called “Zhe Gu Fei.” Finally, they even introduced a piece for zither and xiao ensemble called “Mei Hua Luo,” testing whether these students who were strangers to each other could cooperate.

The difficulty could be seen!

Wei Xi, who had been practicing the zither since childhood, had only stopped playing for a few months when he came to the county town. His basic skills were very solid, and he was familiar with various musical scores from a young age, so he could also play the flute pieces.

Moreover, while he had been a little nervous during the calligraphy competition yesterday, today he was immersed in the music of the zither, which relaxed him and allowed him to perform even better than usual!

Throughout the entire competition, he didn’t make a single mistake!

Even before the results were announced, people from other academies had noticed him.

“This young man just showed his talent in the calligraphy competition yesterday, and now he’s quite accomplished in music too.”

“He looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere… I remember now, he seems to be the one who won the archery competition for Qingzhu Academy last time.”

“No, the one you’re talking about is Wei Shu. He’s over there representing Qingzhu Academy.”

“Then who is this? Wei Shu’s brother? But that’s not right, his older brother is at Qingzhu Academy, so why is he representing another academy in the competition?”

Under the gaze and discussion of everyone, Wei Xi slightly lifted his chest, revealing the emblem of Cuiwei Academy, and calmly walked off the stage, holding his zither.