Awaken Chapter 21

As Zhou Ling arrived at the entrance gate.

Wu had already opened the courtyard door.

A handsome man was standing outside the door. The scholar was dressed in green clothes, with his hair tied and crowned, carrying a book basket, but without any hint of awkwardness, on the contrary it was more Confucian.

This man was so talented that he was about to enter the cla*s.

Xu Qingnian had now entered the rank, and with a literary pool of 36 feet, he had the qualifications of a literary saint, so naturally he could see the strength of other Confucian students who were raising their qi.

“Student Chen Xinghe, I have met my teacher.”

Upon seeing Zhou Ling, Chen Xinghe immediately saluted, perhaps even more solemnly because of the presence of outsiders.

“En.”

Zhou Ling nodded, and then immediately spoke.

“Xinghe, this is the new student I have just accepted, named Xu Qingnian, he is your fellow disciple, this time for the Southern Yufu examination, he will go with you.”

“I also asked you to come here to talk to you about this provincial examination, and by the way you will study with him in company.”

Zhou Ling pointed at Xu Qingnian and said this.

And Xu Qingnian immediately arched his hand and bowed.

“Senior brother has met senior brother Chen.”

Xu Qingnian was very polite.

And Chen Xinghe’s gaze could not help but fall on Xu Qingnian.

Chen Xinghe didn’t expect his teacher to call him back in order to let him study with others.

But after looking at Xu Qingnian.

En, the looks were not bad, very clean, it was the dressing that was average.

It was much better than the ones before.

Thinking of this, Chen Xinghe nodded, his rather cold face easing up a little.

“En, Senior Brother Xu is very polite.”

He blandly returned, which seemed a little cold to normal people, but was a little different in Zhou Ling’s eyes.

It was because some students had met with Chen Xinghe before, but Chen Xinghe gave a very arrogant attitude, and returning the word grace was already considered good, but he did not expect to say one more word.

This was a bit strange.

Zhou Ling was slightly puzzled, but in fact it was not that Chen Xinghe did not know how to be polite, it was just that he cared a lot about his appearance, and he was really reluctant to deal with people who looked ordinary.

Xu Qingnian was not bad looking, he was handsome, not as handsome as himself, but not much worse, if he changed his clothes, he might be able to match himself.

So Chen Xinghe had a slight liking for Xu Qingnian.

“Let’s go in and talk.”

Zhou Ling spoke and led the two into the study.

The study was shady and cool, Chen Xinghe took off the book basket before settling down, Xu Qingnian followed suit, but her gaze fell on Zhou Ling.

“Xinghe, the teacher called you over, and not just for the matter of studying together.”

“This time for the House Examination, the teacher has also learned something from his many inquiries, which is why he sent someone to look for you overnight.”

Seeing Chen Xinghe arrive, Zhou Ling spoke directly, stating the fundamental reason for seeking him out.

“Is this year’s government test different?”

Chen Xinghe spoke, and from these words, one could tell that Chen Xinghe had taken the House Test more than once.

Xu Qingnian did not say anything, he just listened quietly, after all, he had no source of information at all about Confucianism as well as the imperial examinations, nor did he have any background, so it was better to listen carefully.

“En, this year’s government examination is different.”

“In the first year of the new dynasty, His Majesty of the Great Wei places extreme importance on the imperial examinations, in the past the prefectural examinations were reviewed by the prefectural ruler, and the top three grades were sent to the capital for review by the Grand Academy.”

“And this year, all the essay papers for the prefectural exams must be sent directly to the Grand Academy, which will review them and take the top three from each prefecture and hand them over to His Majesty today for His Majesty to review.”

Zhou Ling said slowly, explaining the differences this year.

When this was said, Chen Xinghe could not help but show his surprise.

“His Majesty personally approves them?”

He opened his mouth, looking surprised.

Xu Qingnian was also a little surprised, the House Examination was not a capital examination, the Great Wei Dynasty had four to five hundred houses of all sizes, and if you counted the top three in each house, there were more than fifteen hundred essays.

The emperor has a lot of time to read through his daily work, so how could he possibly read the articles for the provincial exams?

The articles in the Beijing examinations were fine, after all, they represented the highest level of reading in the three years of the Great Wei, but the prefectural examinations were held once a year, how could this be read?

“The king is diligent in his administration.”

Xu Qingnian muttered in his heart, but didn’t say anything.

“En, the new dynasty has arrived, the female emperor has ascended to the throne, this is a variable that has not been seen in the past or present, it is only natural for His Majesty to be diligent in government, as to why exactly, this is the holy will, we cannot touch it nor should we speculate.”

“But for us readers this is a good thing, especially for you, if you write an essay that is chosen as one of the top three and can be approved by His Majesty, it is a great good thing in heaven.”

Zhou Ling didn’t know why, the only thing he could know was that it was good for them all that the Emperor valued the readers so much.

“Understood, in that case, then the student will not hide his bumbling this year.”

Chen Xinghe spoke as he nodded and uttered an extremely pretentious sentence.

Once this was said, Xu Qingnian and Zhou Ling couldn’t help but stare, Zhou Ling was fortunately not a first timer, Xu Qingnian was a little stunned.

These words sounded very pushy ah.

“Alright, these few days you guys study hard first, I’ll also help you think about it, see what will come out of the House questions this time, if you bet on it, you’ll get twice the result with half the effort.”

“Let’s go eat first.”

Zhou Ling didn’t say anything more, and after a little rest, he called on the two to eat.

“I’m not very hungry, just read the book.”

Chen Xinghe shook his head as he got up and took out a book from the book basket and read it alone.

Knowing his character, Zhou Ling called out to Xu Qingnian to go and eat.

“Qingnian, you go and eat, a martial arts practitioner cannot be hungry.”

“En.”

Xu Qingnian didn’t pretend to be anything, he was indeed a little hungry, so he got up and left.

It was only when he heard what Zhou Ling said that Chen Xinghe became a little curious.

After Xu Qingnian left, Chen Xinghe couldn’t help but speak.

“Teacher, what is Qingnian’s origin?”

Chen Xinghe said in a flat tone.

“Nothing, he is a magistrate in the county, but he is a student, so my teacher has a love for talent.”

Zhou Ling replied.

“A magistrate?”

Chen Xinghe was surprised this time.

If it was some poor scholar, there was nothing to say, a magistrate?

It wasn’t that Chen Xinghe looked down on Xu Qingnian, but reading was not just a matter of being literate, there were too many doors, poems, songs, essays and strategies, which of these things didn’t require decades or even decades of accumulated knowledge?

The fact that Xu Qingnian is a magistrate means that he does not have much time to study.

As the saying goes, most readers have to become literate when they are children and then start reading all kinds of books without being distracted, and some poor readers don’t even go into farming and have wives to support their families.

Such things abounded.

This is why Chen Xinghe was surprised.

Of course the main thing was that Xu Qingnian had to take the government exams, and that was its root.

“En, can’t a magistrate study?”

Zhou Ling asked.

“Not really, how many years has senior Qingnian learnt?”

Chen Xinghe would not look down on Xu Qingnian, although he was arrogant, he would not discriminate against others, he was just face-controlled and clear.

“Counting up, three or four days should be there.”

Zhou Ling did some careful calculations and gave this answer.

“Three or four days? Teacher, are you joking with the student?”

Hearing this answer, Chen Xinghe couldn’t calm down this time.

After studying for three or four days, he was going to take the government exam?

Wasn’t that a joke?

“Don’t get excited.”

“I have my own plans, in short, you just need to remember that this junior brother of yours is exceptionally talented and is a diamond in the rough, this trip to let him take part in the government exams is not because I want him to be selected, but to get to know some people and make plans for the future.”

Zhou Ling patted Chen Xinghe’s shoulder, he was not good enough to tell the story of Xu Qingnian’s entry into the rank overnight, not because he was afraid of hitting Chen Xinghe, but

The latter instantly understood Zhou Ling’s meaning.

“Understood.”

Chen Xinghe nodded and didn’t say anything more.

“Alright, I’ll go and have my meal for Master, I’ll ask your senior mother to bring you some.”

After Zhou Ling said this, he left with his hands folded.

But as he was leaving, Chen Xinghe once again spoke out.

“Master, I’m about to enter the rank, next month at the latest.”

Chen Xinghe was bashful as he looked at the book in his hands, looking cool and handsome, and very pushy.

However Zhou Ling, who was walking away with his hands in his hands, only said blandly after hearing those words again.

“Oh.”

After saying this, he went to the food room.

Leaving behind a somewhat confused Chen Xinghe.

????

What does this mean?

Master, do you have deaf ears?

I said that I was about to enter the grade.

You gave me this reaction? Shouldn’t you be shocked?

What does oh mean by that?

Pretending to be calm? You think you’re cool like that?

Fine, you sour me.

Zhou Ling’s reply made Chen Xinghe unable to be calm, but he didn’t dare to say anything even though his stomach was full of complaints, so he could only keep his head down and try to read, bound to enter the grade before the government exam.

At the same time.

A mountain range in Ping’an County was deserted.

A group of people gathered, and in front of them were three corpses.

The man at the head of the group was Cheng Lidong.

His face was still pale, as if he was terminally ill, and he was holding a handkerchief, covering his mouth and nose, but his gaze was cold and terrifying.

“Lord Cheng, we have already lost seven brothers, if we continue to be consumed by him like this, I am afraid that all of our brothers will die here.”

Someone spoke up, looking embarra*sed with his head bowed, but had to speak.

“Do I need you to tell me how many people have died?”

Cheng Lidong gave him a cold look, and the latter’s body immediately trembled slightly as he lowered his head a little deeper.

“He cultivated the second volume of foreign arts, which should be the one hidden in Ping An County, which solved the Yin poison in his body and broke through the rank, otherwise he wouldn’t have any chance of winning in front of me.”

“But don’t worry, I sent a letter to the Prefect, and within three days the above will send a real expert to apprehend him.”

“The only thing for you to do right now is to watch over Lai and not let him escape.”

Cheng Lidong spoke, his back to the crowd, his tone cold.

“Yes.”

The crowd obeyed the order.

And at that moment, a figure came quickly.

“My lord.”

He came flying and knelt before Cheng Lidong and said.

“My lord, my subordinate found Xu Qingnian writing something at home today, and after Xu Qingnian left home, I sneaked into it and took down excerpts of what he wrote, so please read it, my lord.”

The other party spoke, while handing over his booklet.

“Writing?”

Cheng Lidong pondered, then took the booklet and slowly turned it over, and soon a few lines of words appeared.

But soon Cheng Lidong frowned.

Because these words were not ancient Great Wei characters, they were very odd.

He drew his longsword and wrote on the ground against the booklet, one stroke at a time.

The font was odd.

Cheng Lidong didn’t understand it at all and tried to write it down, but he couldn’t understand what it meant.

“When we go back and find the Prefect, let the Lord Prefect invite a Confucian master to come and write these words with the Wenxin Tong, perhaps we can know what this means.”

Cheng Lidong said secretly in his heart.

“Go.”

The next moment, Cheng Lidong spoke and led his men and horses away.

And on the ground, traces of simplified characters were left behind.

Its content read.

[Firstly, absolutely no intentional actions]

[Second, Absolutely no missing of any bad thing]

[Third, absolutely judge justly and beautifully]