The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Supported by Wang Yi and Zhang Hao, Zhuge Yunshu sat with difficulty at the dining table, waiting for the innkeeper to bring the food.

There was no other way; I had just received money from someone for medical treatment, so of course I had to go all out with the act.

Meanwhile, the four students from Yunze Town had already returned to their rooms.

"Have you lost your mind? Why did you say those things? Do you think our reputation isn't bad enough?" the tall, thin scholar roared in dissatisfaction.

Upon hearing this, the teacher leading the group from Yunze Town rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Why didn't they do this earlier? They're talking about reputation, but have they ever had one?

So he quietly closed the doors and windows, hoping the noise wouldn't get out; he didn't want to embarrass himself any further.

"You have such a loose tongue, if you don't keep it in check, you'll die because of it sooner or later."

"If it weren't for you ruining things today, we would have lost face and lost money."

"You were indeed wrong. You should be more careful with your words and actions in the future."

"..."

The chubby scholar: "..."

So it's all his fault now? Why aren't they all so eloquent when they're being criticized?

"You still have the nerve to talk back? What did I say back then? After all, Zhuge Village has a clansman who is a fourth-rank official. We should have bullied someone else from the town school. But you insisted on doing things your own way... You said that Yunshui Town is always at the bottom of the class, and you didn't dare to resist, so you picked the youngest one... Heh, you didn't expect that, did you? The youngest one is indeed the most cunning." The chubby scholar retorted.

"Alright, shut up, all of you. The competition starts tomorrow, so go back and rest early," the town's schoolmaster scolded.

These troublemakers always gather in his room when they argue. What did he do to deserve this?

"How dare you say that? If you weren't such a useless teacher, would we need to lie about our ages?"

"If it weren't for our behind-the-scenes manipulation, you would have had the opportunity to be the team leader this year."

"You dare to scold us? Just wait and see."

"..."

After saying these words, the three of them stormed out, slamming the door behind them.

The town's schoolteacher was left completely bewildered.

Damn it, so this is how the role of the team leader, which everyone avoids like the plague, ended up on him.

Furthermore, these three are truly shameless. If it weren't for their powerful families taking away these three spots, their town's school wouldn't have such a bad reputation in recent years.

……

"Master, why don't you let your disciple go down and help?" Xie Yu asked in confusion.

"Don't underestimate your junior brothers and sisters. Although they are young, they are not to be underestimated. Just wait and see!" Master Wang said confidently.

Although he didn't see the end, he still has that much trust after getting to know him over this period of time.

Xie Yu: "..."

As long as you're happy.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Come in." Master Wang gave Xie Yu a meaningful look.

It's as if it's saying, "See, I wasn't wrong!"

Zhuge Yunshu and the other two walked in with their heads down, like children who had made a mistake.

"If you have something to say, say it. If not, wash up and rest early," said Master Wang.

Zhuge Yunshu: "Master, we've gotten ourselves into trouble."

Wang Yi: "A conflict occurred with other schools in the town."

Zhang Hao: "They started it first."

Master Wang: "..."

Xie Yu: "..."

One person can't finish a sentence.

"Yun Shu, please explain the situation in detail."

Zhuge Yunshu complied with Master Wang's request and recounted the whole story with embellishments.

Of course, a lot was omitted as well.

"In the end, out of guilt, they gave 50 taels of silver for medical expenses."

"We initially refused, but the town's schoolmaster was too enthusiastic, so we had no choice," Zhuge Yunshu said helplessly, gesturing for Wang Yi and Zhang Hao to say a few words.

"Junior Sister Yun Shu has been wronged."

Wang Yi thought to herself: How can one not get tired of constantly playing the role of an injured person?

"With so many people watching, it was the group from Yunze Town School who were unreasonable first. Taking money is just to make them feel less guilty."

Zhang Hao thought to himself: I've done too many bad things, so I have to pay money to avoid trouble.

"..."

After Wang Yi and Zhang Hao finished speaking, Zhuge Yunshu quickly took out fifty taels of silver notes and handed them to Master Wang.

Looking at the crumpled silver note in his hand, Master Wang was both amused and exasperated.

“You haven’t done enough. When faced with people who deliberately cause trouble, we must crush them under our feet and prevent them from ever rising again.”

Xie Yu seemed to recall something unpleasant, and his whole body was filled with murderous intent.

This was the first time Zhuge Yunshu had ever seen Xie Yu so angry, so he quickly assured him, "Senior Brother Xie, we'll listen to you. Next time we encounter these people who offer their faces up for us to slap, we'll just slap them to death."

"Yes, seize the opportunity and we'll make sure they never have a chance to recover. Don't be angry, senior brother."

"It's not worth getting angry over such a petty person. We gave him three slaps."

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao also offered their comfort. Their senior brother Xie was such a virtuous and upright person, so his sudden outburst must mean he was recalling some unhappy memories.

Master Wang: "..."

Unexpectedly, some of his disciples had a ruthless streak.

But this is good, so that when I go out into the world, I won't be bullied by others.

“You did the right thing, and your senior brother is right too. We don’t cause trouble, but we’re not afraid of it either. Some people just bully the weak and fear the strong. For those who take the initiative to bully, we must fight back fiercely and teach them a lesson they’ll never forget…”

"But remember, if we use the right method, we should be the ones standing on the moral high ground to lecture others, not the ones who get the opportunity to lecture us. Do you understand?" Master Wang said earnestly.

This is also the main reason why he didn't let Xie Yu go down to help.

He wanted his three naive disciples to understand that the outside world was not as simple and pure as the school; malice was everywhere, and they needed to learn how to deal with it. With more experience, they would get used to it.

"Disciple understands," the three said in unison.

Zhuge Yunshu thought to himself that they were all like-minded people.

That's great!

"Junior brothers and sisters, are you ready? Are you confident in winning tomorrow's competition?"

Xie Yu's sudden words startled the three people who were still lost in thought.

Zhuge Yunshu thought for a moment and replied seriously, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Xie, we are all ready."

"That's good. I'm looking forward to you guys getting first place in the competition tomorrow and giving those people from Yunze Town's school a good slap in the face." Xie Yu looked at the three of them with a wicked smile.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Wang Yi: "..."

Zhang Hao: "..."

What should I do if my senior brother is too ambitious? When they say "win," they actually mean the top three. The pressure of being number one is immense.

"What, you can't do it?"

"You should know that your teacher is the youngest Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the Great Xia Kingdom and your senior brother, a child prodigy. If you can't even get first place in a small county school, what face will your teacher have left?"

Master Wang: "..."

He was completely innocent; in fact, his reputation wasn't that important to him.

"must."

"can."

"We can do it."

The three of them thought that with their teachers and senior brothers being so capable, and the other teachers in the town's schools only at the level of Xiucai (a lower-level scholar), their chances of getting first place were still very high.

Thus, Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao, provoked by Xie Yu, were full of confidence for tomorrow's competition.

Xie Yu and Master Wang looked at the three foolish-looking people, exchanged glances, and saw the smug satisfaction of their plan succeeding in each other's eyes.

Disciples/junior brothers and sisters, aren't they just meant to be tricked?