Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Mother

Upon entering the academy, one must first queue up to register one's name and then pay a tuition fee of five taels of silver.

Xu Zhu brought all the silver and gold seeds from her house this time, in case Wang Chunhua barged into the house, she would be in big trouble.

"Next!" a student from the academy called out.

"name."

“Li Baobao, Li as in 'Li' (木子李), Bao as in 'baby' (宝贝),” Xu Zhu quickly said.

"Put your tuition here. Then go over there and wait for someone to make arrangements." The student who called out pointed to the container in front of him.

"Next person"

"Next person……"

Xu Zhu and Li Baobao waited for a very long time before someone slowly led them to the assessment area.

"The academy has set up three levels in total. The first two levels are set by the academy, and the third level is set by the master." The young man who spoke was named Lu Feng. He was the direct disciple of the academy's vice headmaster and was a man of outstanding literary talent at the age of twenty.

"Another thing to remind you is that if you don't pass the first two tests, the academy won't accept you, and you won't get your money back. But if you withdraw now, you can still get your money back. Does anyone want to withdraw?" Lu Feng asked the group, glancing at Xu Zhu and Li Baobao from time to time. After all, Li Baobao was too young, and he didn't think the child could pass the test.

Several children from impoverished families thought it over for a long time and then withdrew, planning to try again next year, since five taels of silver could feed a family for half a year.

"Ha, no money and no guts? Poor in body and poor in spirit!"

The children who withdrew had flushed red faces. But there was nothing they could do; money was a cardinal sin.

Xu Zhu looked at the person who spoke, and it was the chubby boy who had been carried up the mountain. The chubby boy had a smug look on his face and was full of disdain.

“You’re not poor, you pay for it!” Li Baobao said immediately.

"Are you looking for death? Do you know who my father is? How dare you be so arrogant!" The chubby boy was furious and was about to charge forward, swinging his fist.

"Ah!" Before the chubby boy could rush over, a pebble hit his knee, causing his legs to buckle and him to kneel on the ground.

"The son of a mere minor official dares to be so arrogant. Senior Brother Lu Feng." A boy of about eleven or twelve years old walked over, his eyebrows sharp and his bearing extraordinary. He spoke very calmly, even when greeting Lu Feng, his tone was completely flat.

When Li Baobao saw the chubby boy being knocked down by a pebble, she excitedly clenched her fist and waved it: "Good hit! Wonderful hit! Make that pig's head squeal!"

"Who are you? I'll have my dad kill you!" The chubby boy glared at Li Baobao and Qi Yuan with a ferocious expression.

Xu Zhu almost burst out laughing. The man had pointed out that his father was a minor official, so he was obviously not afraid of the little fat boy's father. Yet the little fat boy was still bringing up his father!

"Young master, let's not..." The pageboy squatted down and quickly helped his young master up.

Before he could finish speaking, the chubby boy slapped the pageboy across the face: "Who do you think you are, daring to tell me what to do?"

"This servant deserves to die!" The pageboy immediately knelt down and kowtowed to apologize, his face swelling up at a visible speed.

Lu Feng frowned, but said nothing.

Xu Zhu found it unbearable. In modern times, everyone values ​​equality; he had never seen such a scene of humiliation. The fat man was clearly taking his anger out on the pageboy.

A sharp glint flashed in Qi Yuan's eyes.

Once they arrived at the examination venue, only the examinees were allowed to enter; their families and servants had to wait outside.

"Wait a minute, Brother Yuan, can I go in with you?" After seeing Qi Yuan's skills, Li Baobao's eyes sparkled with admiration.

Qi Yuan paused for a moment, then took Li Baobao's hand and walked in together.

"Big brother, what's your name? My name is Li Baobao."

"Qi Yuan".

Xu Zhu read the name "Qi Yuan" aloud again. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

The first meeting between Li Baobao and Qi Yuan is referred to as the "Xuanwu Meeting" in the history books of the State of Qi.

Later, Xu Zhu heard from Li Baobao that the chubby boy's father had been found guilty of embezzling government funds and was exiled to Qiannan, three thousand miles away. The chubby boy was no longer arrogant, and everyone bullied him. He was very pitiful at the academy.

Of course, these are all things that happened later.

"Students, please be quiet. We will now begin the first test." Without further ado, the deputy headmaster began the test. "There is a piece of paper on each student's desk. After one incense stick's time, you must remain silent."

Li Baobao looked at these words, but it was as if he didn't recognize them at all.

Not to mention Li Baobao, even Qi Yuan was dumbfounded: "There are six principles of poetry, the second of which is fu (a type of descriptive prose). Yang Xiong said, 'The fu of poets is beautiful and principled.' Ban Gu said, 'Fu is a branch of ancient poetry.' First seeing 'in their thatched houses,' we know that Qin's wilderness and the Western Rong people gathered there, so we know that Wei's Qi'ao was used to observe local customs. Seeing 'green bamboos luxuriant' in Yi, it refers to their production; their dwellings..."

This is "Rhapsody on the Three Capitals" by Zuo Si, a great scholar of the Wei and Jin dynasties. It was this very article that caused a paper shortage in Luoyang. Naturally, some students had memorized it, but the text on this piece of paper was in random order. How could anyone possibly memorize it?

The students sighed and groaned, while the vice-principal stroked his beard with great pleasure.

"Time's up, students, please recite the text from memory." As soon as the gong and drum sounded, the students quickly picked up their pens and recited the text from memory, fearing that they would forget what they had memorized if too much time passed.

Qi Yuan struggled to memorize the "Rhapsody on the Three Capitals," then looked up at the other examinees, all of them scratching their heads and looking extremely anxious. The chubby boy looked up at the sky, completely resigned to his fate, offering no further resistance. Seeing the others' expressions, Qi Yuan felt slightly relieved. But when his gaze fell on Li Baobao, he was surprised: "He's finished too?"

At this moment, Li Baobao also turned around and glanced at him, grinning broadly, her bright white teeth making his eyes hurt.

When the examination papers were collected, the teachers shook their heads upon seeing the bleak state of the papers.

Qi Yuan approached Li Baobao and asked, "Li Baobao, did you write it all down?"

"No, Brother Qi Yuan. I can't. I don't think I can pass." Li Baobao said seriously, her little brows furrowed.

"Tch, you think you can pass this test? Go home and drink your mother's milk!" The chubby boy looked disdainful, but was secretly pleased that someone was going to fail with him.

"What if I pass?" Li Baobao felt that this chubby boy was looking down on her too much, and she was very angry.

"If you pass, I'll call you Dad." The chubby boy was quite certain that Li Baobao wouldn't pass, after all, he had seen what Li Baobao had written on the paper.

The bet between the two successfully attracted the attention of the surrounding children.

"Hmph." Li Baobao turned her head away.

"Now, I have read out the candidates: Wang Jun, Yang Huai, Qi Yuan, An Nan... Li, what's this Li? Li Baobao... Gu Meng... Candidates whose names are called, please proceed to the next stage of the assessment. Those whose names are not called, you may leave. Do you have any questions?" After reading out the names, the deputy headmaster stroked his magnificent beard.

"I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this!" The chubby boy shouted as soon as he finished speaking, his neck veins bulging.

"Oh, do you have any questions?"

"Li Baobao can't even hold a pen properly, how could he possibly recognize these characters? Besides, all he drew on the paper were black circles, not a single character. How could he pass? If he can pass, why can't we?" The chubby boy pointed angrily at Li Baobao.

The people around thought the chubby boy's words made a lot of sense; they themselves had even written a few words. Why should this little brat get selected with just a few scribbles? A lively crowd erupted.

"Since the students feel this is unfair, then let's pass around Li, cough cough, Li Baobao's answer sheet for everyone to see." The vice-dean saw that everyone was still dissatisfied, but who came up with this name? It's just too...

The students quickly lowered their heads and passed Li Baobao's paper around to each other. It was indeed just scribbled writing, and they couldn't understand what it said.

However, not everyone thought so. Yang Huai was one of them. Although each of Li Baobao's characters looked like a blob of black ink, upon closer inspection, each small blob resembled a character that needed to be memorized. In other words, this four-year-old child who couldn't read had actually memorized the entire disordered version of "The Three Capitals Rhapsody"! With this in mind, what reason was there not to let him pass?

After the deputy headmaster gave an explanation, the chubby boy thought it was barely acceptable.

"Aren't you going to keep your bet?" Yang Huai turned to the chubby boy and said. He was very annoyed with the chubby boy.

Fatty Zhang's face turned red, he opened his mouth but said nothing.

"I don't want him to call me Daddy, he's so stupid." Li Baobao very considerately handed the little fat boy a ladder so he could get down.

The chubby boy breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had been called stupid, he hadn't lost face completely.

The scholar sitting at the very edge, around thirty years old, wore a scholar's cap and a plain long robe. His attire was simple, with only a jade pendant on his person, nothing more. He narrowed his eyes, a hint of amusement flashing across his face: "Illiterate yet able to recite texts from memory, and able to show understanding even when at odds with others. Interesting, very interesting."

"If there are no objections, let's proceed to the next stage of the assessment!"

Xu Zhu waited anxiously outside, pacing back and forth, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest!

The vast army, like an arrow released from a bow, galloped towards Kyoto. Yellow sand, swirling in the air, was whipped up by the horses' hooves before crashing heavily to the ground, carrying a chilling aura.

The outskirts of Kyoto.

"The entire army is stationed and undergoing repairs; we will enter the city tomorrow."