Chapter 28: Guiding Light

Emperor Hongzhi had made up his mind. He calmly said, “Oh? Is that so? But why would three Xiucai, who bore no grudge against Fang Jifan, allow themselves to be toyed with by that boy?”

Xie Qian replied solemnly, “It’s a long story. I heard that these three became Fang Jifan’s students.”

So they became his students. No wonder.

Emperor Hongzhi continued, “But why would the three agree to become Fang Jifan’s students?”

“Well…” Xie Qian hesitated, “This wasn’t mentioned in the memorial. I suppose it could be due to coercion or temptation. ”

Emperor Hongzhi smiled, “Then let it be discussed after verification. There is no hurry. If that boy truly caused harm, I will not forgive him.”

Although Emperor Hongzhi helped Fang Jifan smooth things over, he was still somewhat annoyed. That rascal truly was troublesome. After the Provincial Examination was over, he needed to teach him a lesson.

Then he smiled and said, “Speaking of which, you might be far from interfering with other provinces’ Provincial Examinations. But in Northern Zhili, who do you think will come out on top this time?”

Liu Jian thought for a while and said, “I’ve heard there is a Xiucai in Baoding Prefecture named Wang An, courtesy name Jianren. This person topped the county, prefectural, and academy examinations in Baoding. He is very talented. I expect the top spot in this year’s Northern Zhili Provincial Examination will go to him.”

“Jianren… that courtesy name is quite unique. Recommending with benevolence… Hmm… Good, good.” Emperor Hongzhi had a fondness for talent and nodded repeatedly, “Then let’s wait until the examination starts and the results are posted.”

…

It was still Mao hour, and the sky was just beginning to brighten. Ouyang Zhi and the other two were about to bid farewell to their Esteemed Mentor and go to participate in the Provincial Examination.

Who knew that when they arrived at Fang Jifan’s courtyard, it was pitch black inside. Their Esteemed Mentor probably would not wake up early and was most likely still fast asleep.

Ouyang Zhi and the other two exchanged glances, shook their heads, and smiled wryly.

Then they each picked up their Examination Baskets and went out. Fortunately, Manager Yang was considerate. He had gotten up early and prepared three small sedan chairs for them. He even specially had someone open the main gate and asked them to go out through it, symbolizing that they would step over the high threshold and soar to success.

Ouyang Zhi and the others could feel Manager Yang’s kindness. They cupped their hands and bowed to him, saying, “Thank you for your trouble.”

Manager Yang smiled bitterly and said, “My Young Lord… Ah, please bear with him.”

Ouyang Zhi also smiled bitterly. His feelings toward Fang Jifan were complicated. As Scholars, he, Liu Wenshan, and Jiang Chen deeply believed in heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teacher. Once a teacher, always a father. Even though this Esteemed Mentor was demanding and fond of mischief, a teacher was still a teacher. Once they had become his students, there was no going back.

As the saying goes, a son does not speak of his father’s faults, just as a student does not speak of his teacher’s faults.

Manager Yang noticed the awkwardness of Ouyang Zhi and the others and said understandingly, “No matter what, I wish you success in passing the imperial examination.”

Upon hearing the words “pass the imperial examination,” Ouyang Zhi immediately showed a dejected expression. Of course he wanted to pass the imperial examination, but in the past half month, the three of them had almost neglected their studies. Every day, they only knew how to work on those few Eight-Legged Essay topics. As their Esteemed Mentor put it, he only knew these three topics. If he didn’t make them work on these, should he, as their teacher, go study and rack his brains to think of new topics for them?

“Ah…” Ouyang Zhi sighed, “Let’s hope so.”

With that, the three got into the small sedan chairs.

The process of entering the examination hall went smoothly. When the three of them reported their names, the Yamen Runner in charge of checking their student registrations was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out. Clearly, he had also heard of Ouyang Zhi and the other two. Then he sighed, full of sympathy.

After entering the examination hall, they had to go pay respects to the Chief Examiner.

The Chief Examiner, Wang Ao, sat high in Minglun Hall. Outside, a Yamen Runner called out names: “Baoding Prefecture Shengyuan Ouyang Zhi…”

Upon hearing the name Ouyang Zhi, this Chief Examiner, known for being iron-faced and strict, flashed a trace of doubt in his eyes. When Ouyang Zhi entered and bowed to him, saying, “Baoding Prefecture Shengyuan Ouyang Zhi pays respects to the Chief Examiner,” even Wang Ao felt his heart soften. He shook his head, looked at this Scholar who had suffered under the good-for-nothing, felt it was a pity, and said with a sigh, “Do your best in the exam.”

Ouyang Zhi felt a lump in his throat. When he looked up to express his thanks, he saw all the examiners and Yamen Runners, big and small, looking at him with sympathy in their eyes. He naturally knew why and felt bitter, his face full of misery. So he bowed again and then carried his Examination Basket toward the Examination Shed.

From beginning to end, Ouyang Zhi held no hope for this exam. He sighed inwardly, then raised his eyes and saw a familiar face in the Examination Shed opposite—his townsman, Wang An, courtesy name Jianren.

Wang An had clearly noticed him and smiled at him. This person was the top candidate in the Baoding Prefecture Academy Examination, a top performer among top performers. He usually didn’t care to associate much with Ouyang Zhi and the other two poor students. Last time, because Ouyang Zhi refused to abandon their seriously ill classmate, it had led to an unpleasant parting between them.

Wang An narrowed his eyes, gazing at Ouyang Zhi from afar, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. This talented scholar from Baoding wore a smug expression.

It seemed to say, “See, I told you not to hang out with that consumptive. Look at you now—your studies are ruined, and you’ve been tormented by that notorious young scoundrel in the capital. A decade of hard study, all wasted.”

Ouyang Zhi’s face turned ashen. He ignored him. Everyone has their own path. In his heart, he did not regret his stance.

At this time, the sky was growing light. In the dim Examination Shed, someone beat a Brass Gong, and then someone announced, “The topic is released.”

At the call of “release the topic,” Yamen Runners with red sashes around their waists held examination placards and patrolled the examination grounds.

Ouyang Zhi took a deep breath. Seeing a Yamen Runner holding a placard coming his way, he focused his eyes and saw several large characters written in vermilion lacquer on the placard: “Benevolent Governance in Current Times.”

It was like an electric current poured down from the top of Ouyang Zhi’s head.

He thought he had misread it. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked again. Sure enough, it was still “Benevolent Governance in Current Times.”

It was this topic…

His body trembled; he was so excited he could not control himself.

Esteemed Mentor… Esteemed Mentor… How could he have stumbled upon the exact topic?

It was important to know that Scholars of this era loved to predict exam topics. So-called topic prediction involved guessing what topics the examiner would set based on the examiner’s temperament and character.

Some wealthy families even hired Great Scholars specifically to predict topics for their sons and nephews taking the exams. Of course, the accuracy rate of topic prediction was very low.

By now, the chance of predicting the topic was even lower.

Because initially, the topics set by examiners were quite standard, like ‘Learning’ or ‘Benevolent Governance,’ and sometimes predictions were correct.

But now, the exam topics were becoming more and more tricky, giving you no chance at all.

Ouyang Zhi was so excited his heart felt like it was in his throat. His Esteemed Mentor was a blind cat that had stumbled upon a dead mouse.

In the past half month, he had written essays on this topic countless times. He was so familiar with it he couldn’t be more familiar.

He could almost close his eyes and come up with a dozen different ways to approach the topic.

Taking a deep breath, his mind instantly started working. Even though his aptitude was average, while others needed a full day to complete one essay, for him, it was as if he had been working on this specific topic for half a month. The slow bird flies first. Relying on his foundation as a Xiucai, this tricky and peculiar topic was instead easy and not a problem at all.

So he quickly ground the ink, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and started writing. Then his brush moved swiftly and smoothly, appearing calm and composed.

When the exam ended, Ouyang Zhi picked up his Examination Basket and came out, meeting up with Liu Wenshan and the other. The three exchanged glances, still unable to hide their excitement. Ouyang Zhi suddenly remembered something, “Esteemed Mentor, let’s hurry back to pay respects to our Esteemed Mentor.”

“Let’s go.” Jiang Chen also nodded hurriedly.

Their Esteemed Mentor was a bit of a troublemaker, that they had accepted. But troublemaker or not, he was nothing less than their Guiding Light. They now felt eager to return, wishing they had wings to fly back quickly and thank their Mentor for imparting knowledge.

Unexpectedly, someone from behind panted and said, “Brother Ouyang, how did the exam go?”