Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1350: Chapter 1302: Politics Exam Begins

Sure, here is the translated text:

”The fall of Qin was due to law, the Former Han fell due to outer relatives. Now first there were the Yellow Turbans, then Dong Zhuo, what is this world doing to the world? How to explain it?” Xun Shuang went outside the examination hall to buy a copy of the test paper, glanced briefly over the law section, then focused on the political section, and immediately encountered a question.

”Chen Zichuan is indeed not looking to involve any mediocre individuals.” Xun Shuang said, wryly smiling, ”Just wonder how that young lady from the Cai Family might fare this time.”

Perhaps only someone like Xun Shuang, a noted scholar from the previous generation who once had contact with Cai Yong, could speak this way. However, by now, Xun Shuang no longer treats Cai Yan like a common woman.

Xun Shuang couldn’t solve the question from yesterday’s mathematics section either. He specially went to look at Cai Yan’s paper and could only say it was astonishingly brilliant, with nothing else to add.

It’s precisely because of this that Xun Shuang considered proposing a marriage for Cai Yan. But when he sought out Cai Yan’s current guardian, Li Youu shot back, saying, ”I don’t mind, but the issue is Zhaoji herself doesn’t want to marry. Zhaoji isn’t foolish; she has her own thoughts.”

With this, Xun Shuang was at a loss. There was no way around it; Cai Zhaoji’s significant difference from other women was that her halo was too great. The only flaw was that she was believed to be a Kef wife, but if Cai Yan were willing to return to Hedong, the Weii Family would definitely swallow their previous words.

Unfortunately, the situation now seemed beyond recovery. The Hedong Wei Family wanted shamelessly to take back their words, but Cai Yan didn’t want to return. Despite having no husband, Cai Yan, with her inherently quiet demeanor, preferred to stay in a place where she could grow naturally and didn’t wish to move.

In the examination hall, Lu Yu completed the two hundred law section questions with astonishing speed. These questions weren’t difficult as much as they were numerous, and many contained deliberately confusing wording. Reading too quickly without careful attention would likely lead to mistakes.

The ability to finish the two hundred law section questions within three quarters of an hour makes it possible to tackle the political section. Yet, with such a large volume of questions to scrutinize within half an hour, understanding is already considered extraordinary, so fewer than thirty candidates could complete the law section in three quarters of an hour.

These thirty or so quickly moved on to the political section without checking their answers, only now having the chance to look at the last question in the political section.

Again, it was a question deceptively easy to understand but challenging to solve; every word could be comprehended, and its meaning was clear, but understanding didn’t equate to solving.

Wang Yi managed to be among the quickest to finish, completing the two hundred law section questions within half an hour, truly a remarkable pace. Even if Cai Yan were to compete, she likely couldn’t be faster than Wang Yi.

This allowed Wang Yi to spare a quarter-hour checking over her answers before setting aside the law paper, no longer pondering its questions, and moving on to the political section.

The political paper was sparse, with only one question, just as Wang Yi anticipated. As for difficulty, there was little left to fear; without Cai Zhaoji, Wang Yi had a glimmer of hope for the top spot.

[If I could be five years older, I would challenge Sister Zhaoji to a true showdown!] Before beginning to write, Wang Yi’s mind drifted to this thought.

Though Cai Yan seldom joined their games and antics, if one had to choose a big sister, it could only be the one who quietly stayed in the courtyard or the Library Pavilion, absorbed in reading classic books—Cai Yan.

[Uncle Lul Boyan, you absolutely cannot be careless this time.] Lul Xun wasn’t moving particularly fast; he even pushed past the mark when completing the law section, but he could guarantee every previous answer was correct.

”The fall of Qin was due to law, the Former Han fell due to outer relatives. Now first there were the Yellow Turbans, then Dong Zhuo, what is this world doing to the world? How to explain it.” Lul Xun silently recited, already understanding in his heart. His teacher had him travel, have practical experiences, and use his eyes to observe the changes in governance, which were all reflected inside him.

”Not demise due to law, nor due to outer relatives, but indeed due to the land itself; even during the Spring and Autumn Period, a hundred acres could sustain a person...” Lul Xun cleared his mind and slowly began to write.

If he followed the usual method of problem-solving tactics for this question, Lul Xun would be out of time. However, two reasons didn’t need distinguishing, for they were two sides of the same coin. Why not tackle it from the essence? Having read so many classic books, surely there should be some insight.

Chen Xi wandered among the scholars who had completed the law section; to him, only these scholars were considered potential talents, while the others were merely ordinary.

”Zijing, have you seen any interesting articles?” Chen Xi transmitted his voice to ask Lub Su, ”Here I have a variety of everything, but most are too superficial and one-sided.”

”How come you’re not saying the questions you set are too difficult?” Xun Yue retorted irritably, ”But I have one character here, the core is legislating, strengthening the people’s livelihood—Feng Yi’s Zhang Derong. Though he cannot solve long-term issues, I believe he has the talent to lead a region.”

”Zhang Derong?” Chen Xi frowned, unable to recall who he was, ”What about your side, Zijing?”

”No outstanding figures; mostly scholars from Yangzhou and Jing-Xiang here. How to put it so, I feel these people collectively have a somewhat short-sighted vision and insufficient ambition,” Lub Su complained.

Chen Xi rolled his eyes; this was natural. Not only those below, but even those above were of the same ilk, taking a long-term view initially yet becoming short-sighted after staying long.

”What about your side, Miss Cai?” Chen Xi persisted in asking.

Cai Yan didn’t respond to Chen Xi but simply transmitted her voice, ”Marquis Chen, you should continue calling me Zhaoji as before.”

”Uh...” Chen Xi smiled wryly, realizing he had erroneously addressed her in front of others, remembering not to randomly call women by their names.

”Everything here seems fine. Their exposure is different from others, and the angle of their writing is decent. It’s just a pity their experiences are somewhat shallow.” Cai Yan’s cool voice spoke beside Chen Xi’s ear, ”In comparison, my sister Zhenn Ji and Wang Yi write rather well.”

Without waiting for Chen Xi to inquire, Cai Yan intuitively responded to his question, ”Zhenn Ji mainly writes on issues leading to the sale of positions and titles and, on a deeper level, why the country lacks Money and Grain. Naturally, the problem-solving revolves around these two aspects, though somewhat idealistic.”

”That’s already quite good,” Chen Xi replied. Cai Zhenji was only slightly older than Lul Xun and about the same age as Zhen Mi; for her to reach this level was already quite impressive.

”In fact, Wang Yi’s ideas somewhat echo mine.” Cai Yan pondered for a moment, fixing her gaze on the swiftly penning Wang Yi before slowly raising her head to look at Chen Xi.