Chapter 1798 – Triple Happiness at the Door (Part 1)
“That Lan Ting is downright despicable!”
In the tea house, such remarks could occasionally be heard, and no one bothered to debate it, thinking it was just a bunch of naive young folk trying to ride their way into officialdom with such antics.
It’s not like there weren’t precedents; back in ancient times, a scholar openly criticized a certain ruler in the marketplace. Rather than executing him for his insolence, that ruler tied him up and dragged him in front of himself, sternly demanding to know why he spoke so poorly of him.
The scholar, however, spoke eloquently, hitting all the points that concerned the ruler right on the mark.
After quite the display, the scholar caught the ruler’s attention and swiftly rose to fame, eventually achieving high office.
The ruler earned a reputation for being magnanimous, while that scholar became known as a wise and intelligent talent, and their story was passed down through generations as a tale of friendship. With such shining examples from history, many later scholars tried to imitate that path. Yet, they ended up clumsy and ridiculous, merely seeking attention. Besides, nowadays there are plenty of ways for common-born scholars to get ahead; they didn’t need to resort to such reckless methods.
With the imperial examinations approaching, those counting on such desperate measures to make a name for themselves were either foolish or simply dim-witted, or perhaps just not thinking straight.
Talented individuals need not fear competition in the examinations; if they’re meant to succeed, they will. Those lacking talent may draw attention, but it only serves to become a laughing stock.
“What’s so despicable about Lan Ting?” a friend tugged at the scholar’s sleeve and corrected him, “Everyone knows she changed her name and cut ties with the Liu Clan completely. Now, she’s using the ‘Jiang’ surname gifted by heaven; you should be addressing her as ‘Jiang Jun.'”
Continuing to use the old title might be excusable once or twice due to habit, but if it happened after being corrected, it clearly meant he was dissatisfied with Jiang Pengji.
“Books are incredibly precious!”
The scholar huffed, looking utterly heartbroken.
His friend echoed, confused, “Indeed they are precious.”
The scholar continued, “So precious that they should only belong to scholars. Those petty lowlife dirt farmers shouldn’t be eyeing them. Lan Ting doesn’t understand this principle; instead, she publicizes the vast collection of books in the Golden Scales Pavilion, letting all the filthy and rancid characters in, sullying the fragrant ink.”
He had quite a collection himself—though he thought it couldn’t compare to the grand houses of the Feng Clan, it was more than enough to outshine the commoners.
In his hometown, many of the impoverished scholars would twist and turn to ingratiate themselves with him, even offering up their sisters, older sisters, and daughters in hopes of borrowing from his library for a few days. He had been prideful about this for years, looking down on those from humble origins deep down.
Lacking foundation meant lacking foundation; how could a scholar who bent low and scraped for approval have any pride or dignity?
However, this sense of superiority had been completely shattered upon arriving in Wanzhou.
He saw numerous scholars of humble backgrounds lounging in the Golden Scales Pavilion for years, riding on the coattails of nearby academicians, their knowledge and insight outpacing him by several streets. At the recent Elegant Gathering, he’d even been mocked by two common-born students for having a narrow perspective, as if he were just a bumpkin from the countryside. He was always the one looking down on others; when did it become his turn to be the butt of the joke? The gap was too wide—it was unacceptable!
The more he thought, the angrier he became, and the more he hated.
Going in circles in his mind, he blamed every fault on Jiang Pengji.
Books should be the domain of the gentry, while those from humble origins could only bow and scrape for a glimpse at the academic sea, and commoners should remain foolish their entire lives.
Such extreme thoughts swirled in his head like a tangle of thorns, spreading and taking root within.
He once had the confidence to rise to glory, but coming to Wanzhou and seeing so many common-born individuals left him feeling utterly frustrated.
If the commoners were like this, how could those already rooted in privilege be even worse?
This examination trend was skewed; competing alongside commoners was a disgrace, and not competing at all was preferable.
He was not the only one with such thoughts.
“Small temples attract fierce winds, shallow pools abound with turtles.”
Changsheng overheard this, her elegant brows furrowed, her eyes reflecting disdain for such people.
“Why criticize others instead of reflecting on their own shortcomings? How can someone be so brazen?”
“Pfft—it’s just a farcical joke, why bother caring so much, Changsheng?”
In a private room, Wan Xiuer and Changsheng sat on the floor, not far from the next table where the remarks were clearly audible.
Changsheng replied, “It’s infuriating that Brother Rongli has to compete with such petty people.”
Wan Xiuer laughed, “They’re barking so openly; they probably don’t even qualify for the imperial exams.”
“Allowing people like them to succeed will only harm the common folk.”
Little did they know, they weren’t the only ones overhearing such talk; Jiang Pengji was in the adjacent private room.
She had merely come out for a stroll, originally wanting to observe the lives of commoners, yet she found herself subjected to these ear-piercing words.
“These idiots should never have made it this far; letting them sit for the written exam is a waste of my paper and ink.”
While Jiang Pengji’s retinue mostly consisted of commoners, there were still a few from scholarly families, and the two groups coexisted pleasantly without sharp conflicts for now.
Letting such a foolish individual slip into their midst? Who knew what kind of explosive reactions that would cause?
As she strolled back, she ordered Wei Ci to investigate, discovering that there were indeed quite a number of such fools around.
“I thought this particular fool was unique, yet it turns out they’re all mass-produced from the same mold,” Jiang Pengji yawned, clearly weary. “We must eliminate them from the dark, their character and morals can’t be relied upon, no matter how talented they may be.”
Feng Zhen and the others nodded in agreement, secretly pleased.
It was one thing to be clueless, but to end up under Jiang Pengji’s scrutiny? Truly unaware of what “death” even meant.
Those foolish individuals were but a minority; the first round of imperial examinations proceeded as scheduled. In a spirit of fairness and transparency, and to promote the exams, all sections besides the written test were open to the public. Of course, this “open” wasn’t for just anyone to freely observe.
“I’ve heard that Jiang Jun attended the Golden Scales Academy’s graduation assessments. Why isn’t she present for the imperial examinations?”
Could it be she looked down on these scholars?
Then someone added, “Wasn’t Jiang Jun attacked during that time? With the large number of prose scholars, there are bound to be insincere ones; precautions for Jiang Jun’s safety must be taken.”
Such explanations seemed to assuage many lingering doubts.
Additionally, there were murmurs, “I’ve heard the next round of examinations will be significantly different—”
“Isn’t this round still ongoing? You’re already thinking about the next one?”
“Naturally! Without the next examinations, how would we, common-born scholars, have the chance to serve and be useful to the country?”
Various rumors circulated among the scholars, as time passed day by day.
After three rounds of filtering, a mere fifty individuals entered the final examinations, with those from the Golden Scales Academy comprising over seventy percent; even the lowest-performing student ranked within five hundred.
When the results were announced, many who had spoken ill of them were promptly slapped in the face, to the point of swelling.
These students demonstrated with their abilities that the years of investment in education at the Golden Scales Academy were far from wasted.
