Chapter 77 - 76: Abnormal
Chapter 77: Chapter 76: Abnormal
"Good news! Good news~"
"From Da Liushu Village, Master Liu, Liu Chuanzhi, has passed this year’s examination!"
The faint sound of the good news announcement reached him. Liu Chuanzhi, beaming with success, gazed from afar at Fang Yue, who was standing in a corner of the main hall.
The corners of his mouth curled into a slight smirk. While the other had failed the Martial Scholar examination, he himself had not only become a Civil Scholar but had also been chosen as a son-in-law. Soon, he would marry the youngest daughter of the County Magistrate.
As the saying goes, these were two of the three great joys in life.
Success in the imperial examinations, and the bliss of the wedding night.
To experience both in a single day... he was truly on top of the world.
Liu Chuanzhi was ecstatic. He had finally gotten one up on Fang Yue.
Today, he would throw a grand banquet, invite every villager from Da Liushu Village, and show off with flair.
"Why does this food stink? How is anyone supposed to eat this?"
"Exactly! Don’t tell me the Liu Family cooked this right next to the outhouse..."
In a daze, Liu Chuanzhi thought he heard a series of muttered curses.
Immediately after, a thick, choking stench enveloped him.
But at that moment, Liu Chuanzhi’s mind was completely filled with the thought of having passed the examination.
He just wanted to shout it out loud for everyone to hear.
"I passed!"
The next moment, in the previously quiet examination hall, a hoarse, sickly, and hysterical voice rang out.
This startling cry immediately reawakened the numerous scholars around the "stink cells" who hadn’t been sleeping well.
"Was that you making a racket just now? Get him out of here!~"
At that moment, the soldiers responsible for maintaining order approached.
They went straight to Liu Chuanzhi’s examination cell.
At an official’s signal, two soldiers, fierce as wolves, lunged forward and seized Liu Chuanzhi.
"Stop! How dare you! What are you doing? You dare lay hands on a Scholar Master? You two worthless grunts, let me go! I won’t let you get away with this..."
Liu Chuanzhi clearly hadn’t woken up yet, still lost in his pleasant dream of being a Scholar Master.
But these soldiers weren’t about to put up with him.
What if his yelling and screaming disturbed the other candidates?
So, one of them grabbed a dirty rag and stuffed it into Liu Chuanzhi’s mouth.
"Take him away!"
With a command from the proctor in charge of order, the still-struggling Liu Chuanzhi was forcibly hauled away.
At the same time, all the surrounding candidates were startled awake.
They all looked toward Liu Chuanzhi’s cell. Only after the soldiers had left did some of them dare to mutter to themselves in low voices.
"Isn’t that ’Two Pairs of Shoes,’ Young Master Liu?"
"That’s him, all right. Why would he have a hysterical fit so early in the morning?"
"Perhaps the stench finally got to him."
The "stink cells." Since the examination was held in winter, the stench’s effective range wasn’t actually that large—only about ten zhang in radius.
However, those right next to the stink cells definitely couldn’t bear it.
The civil examination lasted for five days.
For all five days, eating, drinking, and all other bodily functions took place within the examination grounds. While it was tolerable for those in other cells, the candidates near the stink cells had to eat while enduring the foul odor.
Most who were able to become Civil Scholars came from well-off families. How many of them had ever endured such hardship? How many could possibly stand it?
In fact, on the very first day of the examination, several scholars couldn’t take it and had been removed from the grounds.
Now that another had been tormented to his breaking point, the surrounding scholars could only watch with sympathetic gazes.
This one, however, had gone completely delirious, even dreaming that he’d passed the exam.
Immediately, the candidates who already knew Liu Chuanzhi secretly tacked on a few more monikers for "Two Pairs of Shoes" Liu Chuanzhi.
Of course, even more people were overjoyed. Liu Chuanzhi, Liu the Scholar, had been hauled away. Didn’t that mean they had one less competitor?
After all, Liu Chuanzhi’s reputation as a poet was quite formidable.
’I didn’t expect this... to witness a scene straight out of *Fan Jin Passes the Exam*.’
Fang Yue watched Liu Chuanzhi being dragged away and couldn’t help but shake his head.
’I’m reminded of the story of Fan Jin I read in my past life,’ he thought. ’But Fan Jin really *did* pass. This Liu Chuanzhi seems to have only passed in his dreams.’
The examination hall quickly quieted down.
With soldiers on patrol, no one else dared to make a sound.
Fang Yue pulled his attention back to the exam and began to answer the Military Strategy questions.
The questions were neither difficult nor simple.
All three questions came from the book *Martial Fortune and Effect*, which had been published by the Great Wei Dynasty.
One question tested methods for training troops, another tested the relationship between troop movements and supply lines, and the final question presented a historical battle, asking the candidates to analyze its successes and failures.
Fang Yue wasn’t worried. He simply organized his thoughts, combining the knowledge in his mind with the practical realities of the Great Wei Dynasty, and answered the questions one by one.
It took him only about half an hour to finish answering the Military Strategy questions.
Fang Yue then turned in his paper early. He naturally had no desire to linger in the examination cell.
His cell wasn’t far from the "stink cells," and despite the cold weather, the smell still drifted over.
Besides, the Military Strategy examination only lasted for half a day.
Handing in his paper early would give him time to prepare for the combat trials in the afternoon.
"Heh heh, Fang! Your big brother here is golden this time. I’m a shoo-in to pass."
Just as he exited, Chubby came over, laughing merrily.
Apparently, he had also handed in his paper early.
Looking around, he saw quite a few other Martial Artists who had done the same.
’It seems that in the minds of most Martial Artists, Military Strategy isn’t considered that important,’ he mused. ’The most important part is still the combat trial.’
’As long as you get two ’A’ grades in the first four events, you qualify for the combat trials.’
’If you can defend your position in the arena during the combat trials, you’re considered to have passed.’
’In other words, the first four assessments are just the qualifiers.’
’Only those with high scores are qualified to move on to the final combat trials.’
~~~~~~
That afternoon, the final assessment of the Xiahe County Martial Examination—the combat trial—officially began.
Fang Yue took a look around. Only a little over forty people were left, meaning just under half of the candidates had been eliminated.
The proctor first announced the rules of the combat trial, then read out the names of the top ten finishers from the first four assessments.
Fang Yue was ranked ninth, with Chubby also on the list, right behind him in tenth place.
That their rankings were adjacent was rather unexpected.
"For the combat trial, contestants may only use weapons provided by the Government Office. The use of drugs is forbidden. You are responsible for your own life and death..."
The examining official finished reading the standard rules and faced the crowd of Martial Artists.
The combat trial began shortly after.
The qualified Martial Artists could challenge anyone in the top ten, such as Fang Yue, and a victory would allow them to take their opponent’s rank.
Similarly, those in the top ten could challenge those ranked higher than them.
However, each person was only allowed a single challenge.
Soon, the combat trial began.
Fang Yue met his first opponent.
’This Martial Artist got a ’B’ grade in the stone lifting event? That proves his strength is lacking, yet he still dares to challenge me?’
’Does he think he can win just by holding a weapon?’
Fang Yue glanced at his opponent as information about the man quickly surfaced in his mind.
It was, of course, limited to what he had seen and heard during the previous assessments.
Aside from the Military Strategy results, the scores in stone lifting, archery, and horsemanship all held reference value.
This man was skilled with a saber. When the difference in strength wasn’t too large, wielding a weapon certainly provided an advantage.
But Fang Yue hadn’t revealed his full power. His true strength was already approaching three thousand jin.
He was significantly stronger than this man.
Greater strength naturally meant greater speed and faster reflexes, so he wasn’t afraid to fight empty-handed, even if his opponent was armed.
"Ma Qi of Ma Jiahe Village. I ask Martial Artist Fang to be lenient."
"Fang Yue of Da Liushu Village. And I ask you to do the same, brother."
Soon, Fang Yue and the other Martial Artist were on the arena platform, having exchanged names.
They bowed to each other, and then the battle began!
A moment later, after seven or eight exchanges, Fang Yue spotted an opening and knocked Ma Qi off the platform to claim victory.
His clean and decisive victory made some of the others who were planning to challenge him hesitate.
After all, those at the bottom of the rankings were the most likely to be challenged.
Chubby, for instance, ranked tenth, was already fighting his second match.
Even though Fang Yue’s victory had been clean and decisive, several more people came up to challenge him.
But Fang Yue defeated them all with ease. After all, his true strength was simply too great. Even without a weapon, his reflexes and speed far surpassed theirs, allowing him to easily vanquish his opponents.
Soon, however, Fang Yue came up against a tough opponent.
He was Huang Ziyu of the Huang Family, ranked sixth.
Normally, a higher-ranked Martial Artist wouldn’t challenge someone ranked lower.
After all, there was no real benefit to winning against a lower-ranked opponent.
In fact, given how the rankings worked, even the lower-ranked Martial Artists were not necessarily weak in combat.
A moment of carelessness could lead to a shocking upset.
It wasn’t unheard of for a higher-ranked Martial Artist to be defeated and have their rank usurped by someone below them.
So, for Huang Ziyu to take the initiative to challenge Fang Yue was something no one present had expected.
"Huang Ziyu of the Huang Family. I suggest Martial Artist Fang take this seriously. I certainly won’t be holding back."
The moment he stepped onto the platform, Huang Ziyu was incredibly arrogant. His gaze was cold and vicious, as if he wanted to eat Fang Yue alive.
His abnormal behavior naturally piqued the crowd’s curiosity, and it wasn’t long before a few gossips started explaining the reason behind it.
The competition between Huang’s Tea House and the White Tiger Tea House was laid bare for all to see.
Naturally, the White Tiger Tea House’s new tea was also brought up.
After all, almost everyone present had tasted the White Tiger Tea House’s new tea just yesterday.
When it came to taste and texture, it was indeed a great deal better than the offerings from Huang’s Tea House.
A rumor was also circulating that Huang’s Tea House had tried to steal the recipe for the White Tiger Tea House’s new tea but had failed. The copycat tea they produced was apparently far inferior.
Furthermore, Huang’s Tea House had purchased a huge amount of tea leaves at a high price, which were now just dead stock. Their losses were said to be upwards of several ten thousand taels of silver.
With that, it wasn’t hard to guess why Huang Ziyu was acting this way.
Several ten thousand taels, and that was just the immediate loss.
It was foreseeable that the business of Huang’s Tea House would suffer even greater losses in the future.
The Huang Family might even be knocked out of the ranks of the four great families because of this.
How could the Huang Family not hate the White Tiger Boxing Hall? And how could Huang Ziyu not hate Fang Yue!