Chapter 143: Talent

Liu Liwa quickly changed his clothes from the inside out. He hadn’t worn clean clothes for a long time, and now he felt completely renewed, with his whole person glowing with vitality.

At the same time, he finally found something he liked about this era—underclothes. They didn’t care about style, size, or fit, were all made of white silk, and were semi-transparent when worn. The top fastened with buttons, and the bottom tied with strings. Both men and women could wear them.

Although Wu Liniang was so embarrassed and annoyed that she told him to get lost, Liu Liwa looked very troubled. “I can roll away, but these new clothes will get dirty if I roll!”

Wu Liniang was fuming with anger. She simply turned around openly, no longer afraid of being seen, and directly spread the piece of paper out in front of Liu Liwa’s eyes. On it was a portrait of a young man. Wu Liniang said coldly, “This person’s name is Liu Chengye. He is also one of the scholar candidates heading to the capital for the exams. We have learned that he is just a spoiled brat, relying on his father’s influence. However, his father is the current Emperor’s Imperial Tutor. Before the New Emperor ascended the throne, the elder Liu did not want to get involved in the factional struggles among the princes and chose to retire early and return to his hometown. After the New Emperor took the throne, he tried several times to invite Elder Liu back to court, but was refused each time. The Local Officials, knowing Elder Liu’s status, recommended his only son, Liu Chengye, to go to the capital to participate in the Grace Examination. The Emperor will certainly remember old ties, and in the future, when the Imperial Examination Results are posted, Liu Chengye’s name will definitely be on it, and he will be appointed as an official. However, the path of an official is difficult. Liu Chengye is Elder Liu’s only son, and the elder will surely worry about his son being caught in the whirlpool. He might even come out of retirement to assist the New Emperor…”

Watching Wu Liniang’s gloomy face as she spoke, Liu Liwa whispered, “Are you asking me to ambush and kill this Liu Chengye on the way?”

Wu Liniang glared at him and said, “Do you dare?”

Liu Liwa put on a fierce expression but shook his head like a rattle-drum. “I don’t dare. Not to mention killing a person, I don’t even dare to kill a chicken. What I love most is calling for chicken!”

“Don’t waste time with your nonsense. This Elder Liu is the Imperial Tutor and has great influence over the Emperor. Therefore, the Emperor will certainly use Liu Chengye to get the elder to return to court. So, you must do everything possible to get close to Liu Chengye and bring him to our Intoxication Pavilion. You don’t need to worry about the rest.” Wu Liniang instructed, “However, Liu Chengye is not the only target. There are several other scholar candidates who also have significant backgrounds. I have written their portraits and basic information on paper and placed them in the two sleeves of this clothing…”

Damn! Liu Liwa cursed inwardly. No wonder she had given him a new set of clothes for no reason—it wasn’t a love token but a secret way to exchange information. He slipped his hands into the sleeves and indeed found the intelligence.

Liu Liwa still wanted to tease Wu Liniang, because only when he teased her did he feel a bit like a real man. He didn’t want to be led by the nose by this woman all the time; having a female boss always made men feel uncomfortable. Only by surpassing her or overpowering her in other ways could he feel balanced inside.

However, the teasing method he had thought of had to wait until next time, because there was already urging from downstairs. Miss Zhao had sent carriages to pick up the girls, and Liu Liwa could only glare fiercely a few times at Wu Liniang’s mature and voluptuous figure before leaving resentfully.

As soon as he went downstairs, the girls preparing to get into the carriages all stopped moving. Big eyes and small eyes turned toward him in unison. Dressed in elegant clothes, Liu Liwa seemed completely transformed, sweeping away his previous sleazy image. With sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, a straight nose, handsome and dashing, graceful and poised—he was the cream of the crop among young masters, the fighter among pretty boys.

Liu Liwa naturally enjoyed the feeling of being admired, but there was no time now. It was getting late, and some scholar candidates had already entered the city, but the main group had not yet arrived. Director Liu gave his final instructions, though it mainly depended on improvisation.

The girls reluctantly got into the carriages, and before leaving, they all expressed their willingness to act alongside Liu Liwa later, even if it meant blurring the line between acting and reality.

Liu Liwa hadn’t expected that changing clothes and tidying up would make him so devastatingly handsome. However, good looks couldn’t fill the stomach; they still had to continue on their way with the Leftover Warriors.

They split into two groups with the girls. Fortunately, Miss Zhao had prepared carriages, which took them straight out of the city, dropping them off five miles outside the city walls.

Gazing at the majestic green mountains in the distance and the orderly fields, Liu Liwa truly felt the importance of standing firm between heaven and earth and having freedom. Before them, a dirt road wound its way into the distance, seemingly without end. On the left side of the road were fields and villages, with wisps of smoke curling up from some small houses. On the other side was a lush, dense forest extending all the way to the foot of the mountains. Green mountains embraced the forest, and the forest nestled against the mountains—a mutually dependent, picturesque scene.

The official road was bustling with people coming and going, the sounds of carriages and horses filling the air. On both sides of the road were tea stalls and snack vendors, providing rest stops for travelers. From time to time, farmers passed by pushing wheelbarrows, heading into the city to sell mountain goods and wild fruits. There were also wealthy landlords with big heads and large ears, surrounded by their household guards, marching aggressively into the fields to collect rent. Each scene was extraordinarily vivid, giving Liu Liwa a sense of settling down and taking root.

“Seventh Brother, those scholar candidates haven’t arrived yet. Let’s rest at the tea stall ahead for a while.” Wearing the battle gear from his days as a spoiled brat, the Leftover Warriors also regained some of their former delicacy. Liu Liwa looked at the endless official road and saw very few scholar candidates. Since it was still early, resting for a while was fine.

They sat down in the tea stall and ordered a pot of tea. The Leftover Warriors passed the time idly by bragging and joking. Liu Liwa took this opportunity to pull out the intelligence from his sleeve. Besides the Imperial Tutor’s son, Liu Chengye, there were two other people worth paying attention to. One was named Du Shaofu, from a prosperous town called Gaoling in the south. Although this place was within the borders of the Dongning Kingdom, it bordered the Nanchuan Kingdom. The social customs were greatly influenced by Nanchuan, and trade interactions were frequent. This Du Shaofu was a famous talent there, and even people from the Nanchuan Kingdom admired his literary prowess. There were even rumors that Nanchuan wanted to induce him to defect, but Du Shaofu’s ancestors were all from Dongning, and some had even held high official positions. They were loyal to the Dongning Kingdom, which was why he had come to participate in this Grace Examination, hoping to Top the Imperial Exam and bring honor to his ancestors.

The other person was named Wu Yuzhou, from a coastal town in the east. He came from a humble background but had exceptional talent, having achieved top honors in both the provincial and metropolitan exams. Most people in his locality believed he would achieve the highest rank in the palace exam as well, with the potential to become the top candidate.

The two came from different regions, but both were well-known talents and popular candidates for the top spot in this examination, with limitless futures ahead. However, in Liu Liwa’s eyes, they were just pedantic scholars. He simply couldn’t understand how classical literary phrases and rhetorical questions related to governing and strengthening the nation. It was like comparing “strongly condemn” with “diplomacy.”

However, this era revered the idea that all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is exalted. Only through studying and becoming well-learned could one have a future, bring honor to one’s ancestors, and glorify the family. But was the Grace Examination really that simple? Even if both of them had genuine talent and learning, they still had no hope of becoming the top candidate because the Emperor’s teacher’s son was also participating. Once again, it showed that no matter the era, studying science and math is not as good as having a powerful father.