Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Why Are You Still Blocking the Dining Hall?

Seven dishes, five meat, one half-meat and half-vegetable, plus a soup—without at least a tael of silver, you can’t pay for it.

Normally, the Junior Examinees eat at the dining hall, using a tael only after several days.

Liang Yuan glanced at Chu Ming, then at Ning Hao, smiling as he replied, ”Senior Brother Xu, you do have a sharp eye. I just finished copying it today.”

”Heh, then congratulations, Junior Brother Liang. With your skill, copying a True Map of Mountains and Rivers will fetch at least three taels of silver. It’s really worth celebrating.”

”Senior Brother Xu flatters me.” Liang Yuan’s face was humble, but his heart was pleased.

But when he turned to Chu Ming, that comfortable feeling vanished instantly.

After praising Liang Yuan, Xu He turned towards Chu Ming: ”Ning Hao excels in poetry and prose, and Liang Yuan is gifted in painting. Junior Brother Chu, you must learn much from your Senior Brother Ningx and Senior Brother Liang.”

Who learns from whom?

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan’s eyes shifted; they dared not look at Chu Ming or Xu He.

”Yes.” Chu Ming replied with hands clasped; only then did Ning Hao and Liang Yuan quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

If Senior Brother Xu ever found out that the poetry and painting they were so proud of were not as good as this newly admitted Junior Brother Chu’s...that would be too humiliating.

”But you must also keep your priorities straight, and not neglect your main studies.”

Xu He then abruptly changed the subject: ”Whether it’s Junior Brother Ningx’s poetry or Junior Brother Liang’s painting, it’s all the result of talent plus years of diligence.”

”The Academy allows at most three years of study. Junior Brother Chu, you’d best spend your main time on Poetry, Politics, and Military.”

He spoke rather indirectly, but to summarize: in three years at the Academy, focus on Poetry, Politics, and Military aiming for the county exam.

Painting, which requires both a lot of time and innate talent, is not for everyone.

If these words were said yesterday, it wouldn’t matter much, but now...

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan’s faces immediately darkened when they heard this.

Talent? Time?

The two looked at Chu Ming in unison.

Is that necessary?

”By the way, the monthly exam isn’t far off. If you have any academic doubts, Junior Brother Chu, you may come to Orchid Pavilion to consult Junior Xiaang or me.”

Xu He slowly stood up, straightened his robes, and with hands clasped said, ”Lord Feng has high hopes for Junior Brother Chu; you must not disappoint him.”

With that, he left.

Chu Ming watched the two leaving, brows slightly furrowed.

This Senior Brother Xu He seemed somewhat different from the one he met at Liuu Town’s private school.

The former Xu He gave him the impression of being steady and reserved, with the gentle grace of a Confucian Scholar.

But this meeting, this Senior Brother was a bit more overbearing, not overtly so, but still evident in his words.

As for Xiaang Changgu, he was as aloof as ever.

Xu He hadn’t gone far when suddenly his body stopped, and he looked straight ahead.

He saw an old man, grey-robed and white-bearded, striding quickly toward him.

Looking for me?

Xu He was startled, a poem he had written the other day flashed in his mind—could it have caught Mr. Shen’s eye?

He quickly and excitedly saluted, ”Mr. Shen, about my poem...”

”What poem? Don’t block the way!”

”...”

Shen Yu pushed past Xu He without a glance, hurrying over to the trio and said in a deep voice, ”Boy, come with me.”

”...”

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan dared not move.

Chu Ming was speechless; was this old man really waiting for him in the dining hall?

Xu He stood dumbfounded for a moment, awkwardness growing on his face.

He turned to see Shen Yu facing the trio of Ning Hao and the others.

Could Mr. Shen be looking for Ning Hao?

Possible, since Ning Hao is also highly talented in poetry.

Xu He’s eyes flickered as the embarrassment faded, replaced by an elegant smile. He whispered to Xiaang Changgu, ”It should be that Junior Brother Ningx wrote a poem that caught Mr. Shen’s attention.”

Xiaang Changgu listened and nodded slightly, showing agreement.

Shen Yu’s appearance also attracted many Junior Examinees dining nearby.

”I wonder what poem Senior Brother Ning Hao wrote that brought Mr. Shen to the dining hall.”

”The last time this happened was twenty years ago with Senior Brother Baili Xinghua, wasn’t it?”

”Baili Xinghua took first in the county exam that year, now the County Governor of Xirong County. Is Senior Brother Ning Hao the second Baili Xinghua?”

”Back then, Baili Xinghua was top of the Upper Academy. Now Senior Brother Ning Hao is only eleventh in the Middle Courtyard ranking; I don’t think it’s likely.”

”True, Senior Brother Ning Hao is undoubtedly talented, but compared to Baili Xinghua, the gap is still big.”

”Could Mr. Shen be here for Senior Brother Liang Yuan then?”

”Even less likely; Senior Brother Liang Yuan excels at Calligraphy and Painting, but his poetry talent is average. Would Mr. Shen even like his paintings?”

”Could it be for the one standing next to Senior Brother Ning Hao and Senior Brother Liang Yuan?” A Junior Examinee quietly asked.

”Senior Brother?” Someone sneered, ”A new face, younger than Senior Brother Ning and Senior Brother Liang for sure—must have just entered the Academy. How’s he a ’Senior Brother’?”

The one who called him Senior Brother bristled, ”I walked past them earlier and clearly heard Senior Brother Liang and Senior Brother Ning address him as ’Senior Brother Chu.’”

Then, another Junior Examinee spoke up, ”You must have misheard, Junior Brother. I entered the dining hall with them and heard the two address him as ’Junior Brother Chu.’”

”I couldn’t have misheard. It was ’Senior Brother.’”

”You misheard, Junior Brother.”

”...”

”So, is he a Senior Brother or Junior Brother?”

”Senior Brother (Junior Brother) Chu!” The two spoke in unison.

And then a more discordant voice: ”Chu Ming...third son of the Chu family, big merchants from East City, seems also named Chu Ming.”

”I know that Chu Ming. Obsessed with travelogues, storybooks, and listening to songs in brothels—not studying, how could he get into Baiyuan Academy?”

”Aren’t we missing the point here? Does it matter if he’s a Senior or Junior Brother, or from a wealthy family? Shouldn’t we be asking who Mr. Shen is actually looking for?”

”...”

”That’s probably Junior Brother Chu Ming. In yesterday’s Poetry class, he sat in the back row. He didn’t analyze Mr. Shen’s poem, but he praised Mr. Shen for breaking new ground.”

”Mr. Shen was very pleased and said he’d wait for this Junior Brother here at midday in the dining hall...”

A slightly older Junior Examinee in the back suddenly spoke up.

Everyone was startled: Mr. Shen really came for this new Junior Brother?

Xu He and Xiaang Changgu also heard the students’ discussion and were equally shocked.

Only, their shock didn’t last long. In Xiaang Changgu’s eyes flashed a trace of disdain.

Xu He’s face, however, changed expression.

Praised Mr. Shen for breaking new ground?

Truly good at flattery.

That’s what both thought, and many Junior Examinees present thought the same.

Thought he might be the next Baili Xinghua, but it turns out he’s just a sycophant.

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan felt the sharp gazes of the crowd, and both stepped back half a pace.

Chu Ming looked a bit restrained, doing his best to show the expression a youth should have in such a situation.

As for those looks, he in fact did not care at all. The only real trouble was: how to get through what lay ahead.

”Boy, I know you guessed what I want to do, and you’re apprehensive, but I can assure you—it’s just a simple exchange and won’t interfere with your studies.”

Shen Yu deliberately waited for the Junior Examinees to chatter, both giving Chu Ming face and sticking him with the label of a flatterer. With this, Chu Ming was bound to follow him obediently.

A simple exchange?

Who’d believe that!