Kapitel 83: Chapter 83: Yanhan, what do you think?
"Unrelated persons, clear the way! Unrelated persons, clear the way!"
On Xuanwu Street in Wudu, the Blood Asura Battalion members cleared the entire street. Merchants had to pack up, and commoners weren't allowed to gather and watch the commotion.
Today was the day of the Wu Kingdom's imperial examination.
In a side courtyard of the Xu family estate, a sixteen-year-old young man, now fully grown, slowly opened his eyes as he lay on the bed.
The young man was tall for his age, standing around 1.72 meters, but he was also quite stout, weighing approximately 160 pounds.
He got out of bed and changed into a Confucian-style blue robe. Walking out of his room, he fetched some water, wet a towel to wash his face, and used fine salt to brush his teeth before rinsing his mouth.
There were no maids in the young man's courtyard—his mother forbade it. Not that he needed them.
He glanced at the timepiece in the courtyard. It was almost time. After tidying his robe, he left the courtyard and headed to his mother's side residence.
"Mother," the young man greeted, bowing respectfully.
Wang Feng, who had been up for a while, turned to look at her now-grown son and nodded. "How did you sleep last night?"
Xu Pangda gave a simple, honest smile. "I slept very well."
"That's good," Wang Feng said coolly as she gestured to the table, where a food box sat. "I couldn't sleep well last night, so I made some pastries. Take them as your breakfast."
"Thank you, Mother." Xu Pangda opened the food box and saw it was filled to the brim with pastries. "Mother, this seems like quite a lot."
"Is it?" Wang Feng cast a light glance at it. "Take them with you. If you see your younger brother outside the examination hall, let him have some too. Don't let them go to waste."
"But Mother, food isn't allowed inside the examination hall," Xu Pangda said, feeling a bit troubled.
"Then forget it," Wang Feng said softly, lowering her eyes. "You'd better go now. Be prepared early."
"Yes, Mother." Xu Pangda stuffed a few pastries into his mouth, drank a couple of cups of warm tea, and rubbed his belly when he was full. "Mother, I'll take my leave now."
"Go," Wang Feng said with a nod.
Xu Pangda bowed deeply before turning to leave the courtyard.
As Wang Feng watched her son walk farther and farther away, her expression grew distant. Memories of him going to the academy again and again over the past eight years played out repeatedly in her mind.
"Pangda." Just as Xu Pangda was about to leave the courtyard, Wang Feng called out softly.
"Yes, Mother?" Xu Pangda turned back.
"It's alright if you don't do well on the exam," Wang Feng said calmly.
Xu Pangda froze for a moment, then smiled brightly and bowed deeply once more.
---
At Wudu's Qingci Tower, an affordable inn known for subsidizing scholars, a young scholar in a patched blue robe slowly descended the stairs.
The scholar's robe was pieced together with fabrics of different colors, giving it a shabby appearance, but it was immaculately clean.
He descended the stairs slowly, placing one foot carefully on each step before moving the other foot to the same step—repeating the process with a noticeable limp.
Following him was a little girl holding a book. She wore plain clothes, her hair braided into a small pigtail. Her freckled face wasn't particularly pretty, but it wasn't unpleasant either.
The scholar hobbled out of the inn, and the little girl followed him, clutching the book.
"Boss, how much for your buns?" the scholar asked as he approached a bun stall.
The stall owner glanced at the scholar and the little girl. "How many do you need?"
"Just one—"
"Two meat buns, wrapped separately, please," the scholar interrupted, smiling kindly as he cut the little girl off.
"Two copper coins," the stall owner replied, wrapping each bun in oil paper and handing them over.
"Thank you," the scholar said as he took the buns, handing one to the little girl. "It's alright—eat up."
The little girl hesitated for a moment before taking the bun. "Thank you, Brother Yu."
"You're welcome." The scholar, named Yu Ping'an, smiled and gently patted the girl's head.
The duo, one tall and one small, walked toward Xuanwu Street, eating their buns along the way.
Each carried a gourd at their waist, one large and one small, filled with water to quench their thirst.
"Brother Yu, how many days will your exam take?" the braided girl asked.
"Four days."
"After four days, will you become the top scholar?" The girl looked up at Yu Ping'an with excitement.
"It's not that easy," Yu Ping'an replied with a smile.
"But Brother Yu is amazing!" the little girl pouted.
Yu Ping'an ruffled her hair. "I'm just a bookworm."
"No, Brother Yu is really amazing!"
"Alright, alright," Yu Ping'an said, chuckling.
---
Xu Ming arrived at Xuanwu Street.
The street was eerily quiet, with only the Blood Asura guards in their crimson iron armor and the examinees who had come for the imperial exam.
Looking at the guards clad in blood-red armor, Xu Ming couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He wondered if Xiong Haizhi and the others were among them.
"Those guys didn't even come to see me off," Xu Ming muttered with a chuckle. He understood, though. As his comrades-in-arms, they couldn't come to send him off since he was now an examinee. Any association would raise suspicions of favoritism.
Quickening his pace, Xu Ming walked straight ahead.
At the end of Xuanwu Street was the Ministry of Rites' examination hall. One by one, the examinees handed over their jade identification tokens and entered the hall.
Not far from the hall, in a nearby teahouse, a man sipped his tea while watching Xu Ming approach the examination gates.
Beside the man was a woman.
She wore a flowing court dress, as light and ethereal as drifting clouds. The hem was adorned with white cloud patterns delicately outlined in gold thread, and a jade belt cinched her waist. Her cascading hair, as smooth as a waterfall, was loosely gathered with a jade hairpin, with a few strands softly framing her face, adding a touch of charm.
Her face was radiant like the morning sun, soft yet dazzling. Her eyebrows exuded elegance and nobility, and her eyes sparkled like stars embedded in a midnight sky—deep, brilliant, and seemingly capable of perceiving all. A straight nose and lips as delicate as cherry blossoms completed her graceful features, the slight curve of her smile as gentle as spring breezes rippling across a serene lake.
Standing beside the man and woman was a eunuch with a constant, polite smile—Eunuch Wei Xun.
"Did you come back just to watch him take the exam?" the man asked with a smile, glancing at his daughter.
"It's just a coincidence," the young woman replied as she casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "With the books he's read over the years, what could he possibly achieve?"
"You never know."
The man shook his head with a smile, took another sip of tea, and looked toward the examination gates where Xu Ming was registering.
"That boy, Xu Ming, is a fine match for you. You've spent two or three years together, so you should know his character well.
Let me say it again: if you give me a royal grandson, I'll stop meddling in your affairs.
Yanhan, what do you think?"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein