Chapter 58

Cui Zui left still somewhat unwilling, clutching the stack of test papers he hadn't answered a single question on, staring at Xue Jin'an and asking, "Master, do you really have nothing to say to me?"

Xue Jin'an thought for a moment and said, "There will be heavy snow tomorrow, and the temperature will drop by more than ten degrees. Remember to wear a hat."

My brain isn't working very well to begin with, so I hope it doesn't get damaged by the cold, since humans aren't very resistant to the cold.

Cui Zui listened to these words of concern, but something just didn't sound right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he gave up and drove away.

Once the carriage left the palace, the servant waiting outside took over driving. Cui Zui entered the carriage and saw Cui Pengfei looking at his test questions, sighing as he read, "I have never heard of such an all-around genius as the Seventh Prince."

The world has never lacked geniuses. Gan Luo became prime minister at the age of twelve, Huo Qubing was enfeoffed as a king at the age of eighteen, and Luo Binwang, Wang Bo, Li Bai and so on were all accomplished at a young age. It's just that their talents are often manifested in one aspect. As for the Seventh Prince, who seems to have no shortcomings in any aspect, Cui Pengfei has only seen one like him in his more than eighty years of life.

Cui Pengfei became increasingly pleased with the questions, but a hidden worry arose in his heart that too much intelligence could lead to harm.

Cui Zui had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing him staring at the questions for so long, she assumed he knew how to do them, and her face lit up. "Grandfather, please teach me how to do these questions!"

To his surprise, Cui Pengfei gave him a strange look and said confidently, "I don't even know what gravity is, so how would I know how to do it?"

"Then why are you expressing such deep emotion!" Cui Zui was so angry that she didn't care about respecting her elders and snatched the test paper back from his hands.

Cui Pengfei watched him scratch his head for a long time without managing to put a single ink dot on the paper, and looked away with some disdain. "You are indeed not as talented in literature as you are in martial arts, so don't make things difficult for yourself."

Cui Pengfei believed that Cui Zui's talent in martial arts was indeed greater than his talent in literature, but he did not really think that Cui Zui would have no future if he focused solely on literature. Although Cui Zui was not as good as Cui Zhuo, who became the top scholar in Jiangnan Prefecture, his ability was still among the top in the imperial examinations. If he could take the imperial examinations normally, he would definitely be ranked second.

Cui Pengfei's words were more of a subtle way of advising him that he didn't have to abandon what he was best at to prove himself, and that playing to his strengths was not a bad thing.

Cui Zui understood the meaning behind it. He suddenly smiled, his overly thick and delicate eyebrows and eyes displaying a stunning beauty, without his usual melancholy. Since he had already become the Seventh Prince's disciple, he had decided to continue on the path of martial arts.

However, he didn't explain anything. Instead, he shook the test paper in his hand and smiled slyly, "Grandfather is right. In terms of literature, I am indeed far inferior to Ziqiong. As a top scholar, he certainly couldn't possibly not be able to solve a single problem. Grandfather, don't you agree?"

Ziqiong is Cui Zhuo's courtesy name. The Cui family members have many similarities. For example, both Cui Zui and Cui Zhuo are somewhat arrogant and stubborn. However, the former's arrogance is hidden in his stubbornness, so people only think that he is a stubborn person. The latter, on the contrary, hides his stubbornness in his arrogance, so people only think that he is a bit aloof.

Among the younger generation of the Cui family, these two brothers were both unconventional. They were close to each other, but kept a distance from everyone else. The difference was that Cui Zui was isolated and looked down upon by everyone, while Cui Zhuo was isolated and looked down upon by everyone.

Although Cui Zui and Cui Zhuo are a bit different in age, they have both been known as geniuses since childhood, so it's natural that they would secretly compete with each other, each wanting to surpass the other. Since Cui Zui has put it this way, Cui Zhuo will definitely stay up all night to solve a problem.

"..." Cui Pengfei did not comment on their childish bickering, but only said, "Be careful not to make him angry, or you'll have no way to explain yourself."

Cui Zui was not threatened in the slightest.

As the carriage entered the city, its speed slowed down, and the sounds of the hustle and bustle rushed into the ears. Cui Zui lifted the curtain and looked out at the sky, then suddenly asked, "Grandfather, the sky looks fine to me; it doesn't look like it's going to snow heavily."

"It should have snowed by now in previous years." Snow usually falls in the capital as early as September or October, but this year it's almost December and there hasn't been a single snowfall. The temperature is still like late autumn, which is a bit abnormal.

In winter, the fields are not cultivated, and snow will only freeze insect eggs to death. Spring is the season for spring plowing, and snow will mostly freeze the seedlings to death. This is the folk saying, "A winter snow brings wealth, a spring snow brings disaster." Since the Tang Dynasty, the development of the South has gradually surpassed that of the North in all aspects, including grain production.

Beijing is located in the north, where winters typically arrive earlier. If there is no snow in the north, there is a risk of disaster in the south next year.

Cui Pengfei also glanced outside and saw some people on the street selling off some of their winter supplies, which they had stockpiled since winter hadn't arrived for a long time. A kind porter advised him to put them away, otherwise there might be problems if the weather suddenly changed.

The man thought the porter was meddling, believing that winter was coming too late and even if it did, it wouldn't be as unbearable as in previous years; spring would arrive in a few months at most. The porter didn't argue with him, shook his head, and left.

Cui Zui lowered the carriage curtain, and Cui Pengfei said noncommittally, "We'll know tomorrow whether it snows or not."

The snow was also being discussed in Zhaoyang Palace.

Shouquan asked Xue Jin'an with some curiosity, "Your Highness, how did you tell whether it was going to snow or not?"

Xue Jin'an pointed to the sky and said expressionlessly, "It told me that."

Xue Jin'an was telling the truth. His weather forecast and map weren't exactly big applications, but to use them, you needed to connect to the global network and synchronize information from that world. In essence, it was the world telling him what was happening.

The weather forecast says it will be rain and snow turning into heavy snow, and it will snow on and off for four or five days. The temperature will drop starting from 9 pm today, and will drop from 12 degrees to minus 5 degrees in the next two or three days. The perceived temperature will be about 3 to 5 degrees lower.

"If only God could tell me the weather in advance," Lingzhi said, tapping her forehead twice with her fingers. "If it really snows, I'm afraid the Imperial Clothing Bureau won't have enough time to provide new clothes. We'll have to use old clothes and blankets to make some winter clothes and blankets."

The winter clothes Lingzhi was referring to were very thick fur-lined cloaks, not the cotton-padded jackets that Xue Jin'an was currently wearing.

Since moving to Zhaoyang Palace, Xue Jin'an has been wearing a new set of clothes, all of which were custom-made by the Imperial Clothing Bureau at Lingzhi's request. However, it is the peak season for clothing, and the Imperial Clothing Bureau is not only rushing to produce seasonal clothes for each palace, but also new clothes for the masters to wear on New Year's Eve. The embroiderers are extremely busy, and less than half of the clothes she ordered have arrived so far.

If it's just altering an old piece, the Imperial Clothing Bureau could probably make one in half a day. Lingzhi didn't know if the snowfall was real or not, but she decided to go anyway, erring on the side of caution.

At the same time, she also had to go to Cining Palace. She said directly to Xue Jin'an, "The Empress Dowager must know that Master Cui has come. This servant is foolish and does not know the importance and urgency of the matter, what should be mentioned in detail, and what should be omitted. Please give me your instructions, Your Highness."

Lingzhi was going to Cining Palace to report, but she still asked Xue Jin'an what she should and shouldn't say. This was a clear sign of goodwill, and it subtly expressed that her position was on the Seventh Prince's side.

Shouquan's eyes brightened slightly, and he was overjoyed. Both Lingzhi and Fuling were skilled in martial arts. Lingzhi was also quite quick-witted and tactful, handling interpersonal relationships and worldly affairs with great maturity, leaving no room for criticism. If such a person could wholeheartedly serve his master, that would naturally be an excellent thing.

Now that our master is weak and alone, he is not afraid of people scheming against him, but he is afraid of having no one to use.

Shouquan thought this way, but he wasn't overwhelmed by excitement. This was mainly because his master's expressionless face was so calm, which made him habitually stay calm as well.

He pretended not to understand the implied meaning in Lingzhi's words and deliberately said, "What are you saying, Sister Lingzhi? You are wise and brave. If you are stupid, then I am stupid. You are the Empress Dowager's person, so naturally you should serve the Empress Dowager. You should report the truth."

Lingzhi knew that Shouquan meant for her to make her stance clear, but she wasn't intimidated and readily replied, "Although Fuling and I were left behind by the Empress Dowager, we should listen to the orders of wherever we go and never serve two masters."

As Lingzhi spoke, she took out the Empress Dowager's token from her sleeve and presented it to her.

"Keep it." Xue Jin'an refused, then indicated that there was nothing he couldn't say about his affairs, and he would answer whatever the Empress Dowager asked.

Lingzhi was quite surprised. She had imagined many possible reactions from Xue Jin'an, but the one she didn't expect was that he wouldn't want the token. This token could command a small team from the Imperial Guard. Although the number of people was small, it was enough to stir up trouble in the palace. At least his spies would be much smarter.

Lingzhi noticed that Xue Jin'an didn't even glance at the token, and his entire demeanor was calm and casual, clearly indicating that his words came from the heart and that he trusted her openly and honestly.

Lingzhi, who had originally just accepted the natural course of things, felt a slight warmth in her heart, and all her minor unease disappeared.

"This servant understands." Lingzhi smiled and took her leave.

Lingzhi first sent the agreed-upon old clothes and quilts to the Imperial Clothing Bureau for alteration. The female official in the Imperial Clothing Bureau looked puzzled and helpless, feeling that Lingzhi's request was really a delay. The masters and mistresses in the palace could not wear old clothes for long, so why would they wear clothes made from old clothes?

But there was no other way. The female official knew that Lingzhi belonged to both Zhaoyang Palace and Cining Palace, and neither of these two families was easy to mess with. Even if she thought the other party was stupid and dull and only wanted to cause trouble, she had to do it quickly. Fortunately, it was just a minor change, and half a day was more than enough time.

While Lingzhi was having her clothes altered at the Imperial Clothing Bureau, she went to Cining Palace to speak with them.

The Empress Dowager didn't ask about every little detail. She mainly inquired about whether Cui Pengfei had done his best in teaching today and how things were going. When she heard that Cui Pengfei had brought a grandson who knew martial arts to teach Xue Jin'an archery, she said that Cui Pengfei was very thoughtful.

Before leaving, Lingzhi made a point of mentioning the temperature drop and snowfall, saying, "Seventh Prince is very filial. He was worried that the sudden change in weather might not be good for your health, Ancestor, so he specifically instructed me to tell you."

There were no instructions given; Lingzhi was simply trying to gain Xue Jin'an's favor.

The Empress Dowager nodded with great satisfaction, and Granny Su immediately smiled and said, "Then this servant will go and take out the thick clothes to air them out properly, so they can be worn tomorrow."

The two women had reservations about whether the temperature would actually drop and it would snow, but that didn't stop them from doing something to fulfill Xue Jin'an's filial piety.

Lu Bingzhu tapped his fist lightly against his palm and said casually, "I forgot to arrange a martial arts teacher for the Seventh Prince to teach him internal energy. There's no time to arrange one now, so I'll go myself."

The Empress Dowager glanced at him. After all these years, she knew exactly what he was up to. He just wanted to teach Xue Jin'an because he saw that Xue Jin'an was talented.

"The true colors are revealed when the map is unrolled." The Empress Dowager pointed at him with her finger and then said, "Don't make any rash moves. The Emperor probably has his own arrangements."

While it was said to be an arrangement, in reality, the emperor was probably waiting for a suitable opportunity to use this "reward" to get closer to Xue Jin'an and demonstrate his presence as a father.

Lu Bingzhu knew that the Empress Dowager disliked this kind of manipulative approach the most, so he raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, should I teach her or not?"

"Does that mean you won't teach me just because I don't want you to? Last time you threw my teacup away, it wasn't just something you threw away without asking me." The Empress Dowager picked up the teacup and deliberately mocked him.

"Grand Ancestor, please forgive me." Lu Bingzhu's apology was rather perfunctory, without even a proper bow, and he said matter-of-factly, "For Cui Zai to praise him, the Seventh Prince must be an outstanding child. Who wouldn't like an outstanding child?"

Granny Su also had a good impression of Xue Jin'an: "This child is grateful and kind, decisive in his actions, not stupid, and interesting in his speech. He is indeed likable."

The Empress Dowager nodded in agreement.

Then Lu Bingzhu said meaningfully, "It would be truly heartbreaking if such a child could not have a good ending."

The Empress Dowager's heart stirred slightly, but she ultimately suppressed her wandering thoughts and sighed, "Little Seven is still a child, while I am already old."

“Cui Zai is still quite vigorous. You are almost a full twelve years younger than him. How could you possibly outlive him?” Lu Bingzhu teased.

"He's a scourge that will live for a thousand years; many will not outlive him." The Empress Dowager glared at him, but ultimately refrained from saying that she was old.

Cui Pengfei was the person who fought with her the longest, and also the only powerful minister who survived under her rule. His downfall propelled the Empress Dowager to the pinnacle of power. It would be quite difficult for the Empress Dowager to admit that she lost to him in any way.

Xue Jin'an said the temperature would drop as soon as he said it would snow, and when he said it would snow, it would snow. When he got up on time the next day, the outside world was already covered in silver. In just one night, the snow was already ankle-deep. Large snowflakes were still falling from the sky. Zhaoyang Palace had a fire wall, and charcoal was burned in the fire pit. The entire wall transmitted heat into the room. A basin of silver charcoal was also lit, and the temperature inside the room was even warmer than before the snow.

Xue Jin'an wanted to go out into the courtyard as usual to join Helian Cheng's morning military training, but he was stopped as soon as he stepped out of the inner hall.

“Master, it’s too cold today. You should rest for a day to avoid getting frostbite.” Fulu said, touching Xue Jin’an’s hand. He felt that the skin under his fingertips was too cold, so he quickly put the hand warmer he had filled into his hand. “Master, you were in serious financial trouble before. Now is the time to recuperate. You should be careful.”

Lingzhi also said, "This cold air came on fiercely, and many of the Imperial Guards have fallen ill."

Xue Jin'an felt they were making a mountain out of a molehill. The temperature of a phone is naturally lower than that of a human body, so it will feel cold to the touch. If you want it to get warm, it's simple. He can charge it while watching live streams, and it will be warm and cozy in no time.

However, Xue Jin'an opened the fitness app and found that there was also heavy snow in the northwest today, so the military training was canceled, and he nodded in agreement.

About half an hour later, the Cui family's carriage stopped at the entrance of Zhaoyang Palace. Only Cui Zui got out. It turned out that the temperature drop was too sudden. Even with some protection, the elderly could hardly bear it, and Cui Pengfei still fell ill.

In fact, the Empress Dowager also caught a chill, but it was discovered in time, and she felt much better after taking a few bowls of medicine. The most seriously ill was Grand Tutor Li. Grand Tutor Li already had a leg ailment, and with the drop in temperature, the cold wind penetrated into his bones, causing the old man to be in so much pain that he couldn't get out of bed. He had someone else attend his classes in the study today.

For several days afterward, Cui Zui went to the palace alone to study mathematics with Xue Jin'an. Although Cui Pengfei did not come, Cui Zui brought homework and gave Xue Jin'an some problems to do.

It started with dictation, then sentence interpretation and analysis... The difficulty increased day by day, and the number of questions also increased day by day. On the fifth day, it suddenly returned to simplicity with only one question, but the question covered almost all the content that Xue Jin'an had learned.

The first question requires analyzing the local culture, geography, customs, and traditions based on the given information; the second question requires providing a reasonable crop planting plan based on the first question and calculating the tax revenue; the third question requires writing a short essay on policies to encourage agriculture and sericulture.

Although the first two questions involved too many and too varied subjects, and required a huge amount of calculation, they were actually not difficult for Xue Jin'an because they involved data.

The only question he couldn't answer was the policy question. It was like the material given in the essay question; he couldn't find the key points or grasp the core keywords. If he forced himself to write something, he would definitely go off-topic.

In such situations, he does have a simple but effective method: extract all the possible key points from the material, generate articles for each of them, and submit them one by one, letting the graders find the article with the correct problem-solving approach.

This method is a bit too demanding on teachers. Xue Jin'an currently only has one teacher, and if you really want to talk about it, there's also a backup, Master Cen. It can't withstand too much drain.

Xue Jin'an thought for a moment, then took a picture of the question and uploaded it to his browser to search. Although he didn't find the original question or a similar one, a website for solving problems popped up for him.

—Examinee of the provincial examination

This place offers a vast collection of original imperial examination questions. It's a paradise for candidates from outside Beijing. It supports online question searching, answering, creating, and sharing/discussing of questions. There are also teachers from the Imperial Academy and outstanding graduates available online to answer and grade papers… For all the students who have studied diligently for ten years and aspire to achieve top honors in the imperial examinations, join us now!

Xue Jin'an posted the question, and in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the question, which covered all aspects of astronomy, geography, agriculture, and mathematics, had over a thousand views. Comments were flying everywhere, with the first dozen or so being question marks.

Lin Zheng, Prefect of Jiangnan: ? ? ? Huh? No, what kind of devilish question is this?? Can anyone actually solve the first two questions??

Tan Lingyue from Jinyang Prefecture: My father is a teacher. I just asked him how to approach this question, and he said we should think about the intention of the person who set the question.

Liu Gu of Xiang'e Prefecture: Tan Xiaoyou is right. I have thought about it carefully and understand the intention of the question setter. He intends to kill me.

Du Yin of Huaibei Prefecture: Absolutely no one can solve the second question. I spent a quarter of an hour calculating and wasted ten sheets of paper before I only got one-tenth of the answer right!

Yu Zhongfu Tian Chengmin: I couldn't answer the first question either. I can only guess that it's from the south. The south has many mountains and rivers, and it is said that the customs and habits of different villages in the same county are not necessarily the same. If the question setter was trying to make things difficult for us, he would definitely choose the south.

...

Comments kept popping up, all saying that the first two questions were impossible to answer. Xue Jin'an frowned slightly and sent a comment with a thought.

Questioner: How should I answer the third question?

Tan Lingyue of Jinyang Prefecture: This question is ingenious. The three questions are interconnected. If you cannot answer the first question, you will inevitably get the second question wrong, and you will also be unable to answer the third question.

Upon seeing this answer, Xue Jin'an immediately posted the answers to the first two questions, along with a meticulous list of the relevant books and the problem-solving approach.

Questioner: How should I answer the third question?

Students: ? ? ? ? ? ?

On this day, at the gathering of scholars from other places who had passed the imperial examinations, many scholars from various regions looked at the examination questions that had appeared on the table at some unknown time, as well as another perfect answer, and fell into deep doubt about life.

They suspected they were just there to fill vacancies in the imperial examinations.

However, they quickly realized that such a capable person could not possibly be unable to solve this simplest policy question. This behavior was probably a test for them. Perhaps this person was actually the one who set the question. They should seize this opportunity to show their talents to the other party!

So, Xue Jin'an, who only wanted to learn how to solve problems, ended up with a whole bunch of policy essay assignments. He looked at the ones with familiar names and actually came up with a set of problem-solving techniques.

Having obtained what he wanted, Xue Jin'an immediately logged off and quickly generated the answer, which he then had Cui Zui take back.

That night, Cui Pengfei kept the lamp lit until dawn.

He smiled broadly when he saw the first two questions, but when he saw the third question, he first frowned, then slapped the table in admiration, then showed an expression that he couldn't bear to look at, and finally almost pulled out his beard.

Good news: The arguments presented in the policy proposals are all correct and not unfounded. They are based on the actual local conditions, and some of the viewpoints are even very insightful and can be directly implemented as policies.

The bad news: aside from stating the arguments, the rest of the writing, especially the rhetoric used to persuade people to engage in agriculture and sericulture, was not just appalling, it was utter nonsense!

What a beautiful argument, what ugly writing.

It turns out that the Seventh Prince is not without weaknesses, but rather his weaknesses are so extreme that we hadn't noticed them before.

Cui Pengfei, as he sees it now, feels that his career as a teacher has encountered the most difficult challenge yet.