158, Discussing Knowledge

158, Discussing Knowledge

"The Analects of Confucius is one of the required knowledge in our recent exams. I believe that everyone here has read The Analects of Confucius and is very familiar with the contents of the book, right?" He seemed to be asking everyone present, but in fact he was asking Jiang Shihong.

When Jiang Shihong met Lu Mingfei's gaze, his face froze. He felt as if his plans were seen through by the other party.

"Since we have all read the book and the teacher has taught us the knowledge countless times, it would be a waste of our precious time gathered here today to bring it up again." In a place like a restaurant where there are many people and noisy conversations, Lu Mingfei naturally did not want to continue discussing sensitive topics such as politics.

Who knows how the words he said would be interpreted later?

Their reigning emperor was not a good ruler who governed with virtue. He would be in big trouble if someone accused him of being a mere scholar, talking nonsense in public and implying something about their king.

So Lu Mingfei changed the subject and brought up a new one. "Well, I have an interesting question. Is anyone interested?"

"Oh, is it an interesting question? Tell us about it." Zhang Lingxuan continued.

How could Zhang Lingxuan not see that Jiang Shihong was deliberately looking for trouble? And Feng Muchun had deliberately dragged Lu Mingfei here to test him. He had originally had a good impression of Feng Muchun, but after today's incident, his impression of Feng Muchun had become extremely negative.

Feng Boming also noticed Feng Muchun's way of doing things, and suddenly felt a little confused. It seemed that he had not understood this good friend clearly for all these years.

The others were also very interested in the interesting questions raised by the top candidate in the college examination. They all spoke up and asked Lu Mingfei to speak quickly, as they were all waiting to listen.

The question Lu Mingfei gave everyone was a geometric arithmetic problem, "Suppose we are in a rectangular box that is ten meters long, four meters wide, and two meters high. So, can you calculate the length from the corner of the door to the corner of the roof?" He used the room they were in as an example and asked the group to calculate the length of the diagonal corner of the house.

Sure enough, as soon as this arithmetic problem came out, everyone in the room fell silent.

In this era that values ​​literature, many scholars only focus on reading books such as the Four Books and Five Classics, and few people like to learn arithmetic or other miscellaneous subjects.

So an arithmetic problem stumped many people.

Taking advantage of the silence, Lu Mingfei took the opportunity to say goodbye: "This is an interesting arithmetic problem, everyone, take your time to solve it. We can discuss the results when we get together next time. I have other things to do today, so I will take my leave first."

While no one else was reacting, he bowed to everyone, gave a wink to Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran, then turned and walked towards the door of the box, opened it and walked out.

Zhang Lingxuan, who was behind, also stood up with Ye Zhuoran, said goodbye to everyone and left.

Fu Boming also came out with them.

Lu Mingfei waited at the downstairs door for a moment before he saw Zhang Lingxuan, Ye Zhuoran, and their senior brother coming down the stairs. He looked at their senior brother and asked, "Senior brother, you're out too? Aren't you upstairs having tea with everyone?" He thought that given their senior brother's close relationship with Feng Muchun, there was no way he would leave so early.

This question made Fu Boming stunned, and also made him realize that he had been too close to Feng Muchun recently, and actually distanced himself from his fellow disciples.

Fu Boming was clear about who was closer and who was more distant between Lu Mingfei, Zhang Lingxuan, and Feng Muchun. After today's events, he realized that he should stay away from Feng Muchun and be closer to his fellow disciples.

"Do you have time today? I have some questions I'd like to discuss with you. Why don't we find someone else to talk to about it?" Feng Muchun knew that Lu Mingfei's excuse for leaving was just an excuse. The three of them had probably made an appointment to come out together.

Lu Mingfei glanced at Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran, and when he saw that neither of them objected, he nodded.

***

Then they came to the teahouse opened by Ye Zhuoran's family and found a private room upstairs to sit down.

The owner of the teahouse brought the waiter upstairs to deliver the things and then left, so there were only four of them in the private room.

The results of the college entrance examination were announced today, and the entire city of Kyoto was very lively. Sitting in the box upstairs, they could hear the voices of everyone talking outside.

"Brother Feng and the others today..." Fu Boming opened his mouth and wanted to apologize to Lu Mingfei for Feng Muchun's behavior today.

But before their senior brother could apologize to him on Feng Muchun's behalf, Lu Mingfei interrupted him and said, "There are only a few of us brothers here, so there's no need to mention those outsiders."

The meaning of his words was very clear to tell their senior brother that they were fellow disciples and family members, while Feng Muchun was just a candidate who had temporarily joined them to protect each other and take the exam together, so he was an outsider.

Furthermore, Lu Mingfei didn't want their eldest brother to apologize to him, his junior brother, for an outsider. The relationship between them had always been quite good. He also knew their eldest brother well; he was a kindhearted man who was eager to help his junior brothers, much like their teacher.

However, their eldest brother's personality makes it easy for others to manipulate and exploit him.

However, they have studied together for so many years and understand each other. There is no need for Lu Mingfei to distance himself from his senior brother just because of Feng Muchun.

"Big Brother, tell me what you want to discuss with us."

Speaking of this, Fu Boming smiled. He looked at Lu Mingfei, Zhang Lingxuan, and Ye Zhuoran and said, "I just checked the list. All four of us passed the entrance exam."

"Haha, I got more than ten places higher this time than the last two!" Ye Zhuoran beamed with joy when he mentioned passing the entrance exam, but quickly changed to a nervous expression as he said, "You don't know how terrified I've been that I won't pass this time. If you all pass and I'm the only one who doesn't, I'll cry my heart out."

Zhang Lingxuan performed better in this college entrance examination than in the previous two times, and entered the top 30, ranking 22nd.

Fu Boming was in the middle, not too high but not too low either. However, compared to his two junior brothers here, he, the eldest brother, did not perform well in the exam.

However, when he saw that his junior brothers performed better than him, the senior brother, he did not feel jealous at all. Instead, he was very happy for his two junior brothers.

"Yes, I saw it all. Zhuoran, you did well in the exam this time, and so did Lingxuan and Mingfei. Especially Mingfei, he got the first place in the college exam again. I will tell Mr. Fu this good news when I get back." In front of his junior brothers, Fu Boming also called his father Mr. Fu.

Lu Mingfei looked at Ye Zhuoran and Zhang Lingxuan and suggested, "Let's go over together later and tell the gentlemen the good news, shall we?"

"Okay." Zhang Lingxuan nodded.

Ye Zhuoran also said it was no problem.

After everyone finished talking and returned to their husbands, Fu Boming asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

After the examination, those who passed the exam received the status of "Xucai" (Scholars). Next, they had to decide what path to take. They had only two options: one was to continue taking the exam; the other was to not take it. Those with family businesses could return to inherit their inheritance, while the rest could return to open private schools and teach.

However, it was rare for someone to stop taking the imperial examination after passing it. Generally speaking, candidates who had passed the imperial examination would choose a college to continue their studies, preparing for the provincial examination three years later. Only after repeated failures in the provincial examination, seeing no hope of passing, would they give up and stop taking the exam.

The four brothers were lucky. They all passed the county examination, the prefectural examination and this time's academy examination on the first try. The four of them were only in their teens, so they would definitely continue to take the exams.

Seeing everyone looking at him, clearly wanting to hear his thoughts, Lu Mingfei smiled helplessly and said, "I did better than expected in this entrance exam, so I'll probably apply to the Imperial College. If I can get in, that would be the best."

"If I can't go to the Imperial College, I will find a college in the capital and probably won't go to other places to study."

A major reason Lu Mingfei didn't want to study away from home was that he couldn't leave his family behind. Furthermore, he already had a solid foundation, and with a teacher and some self-study, he would have a fighting chance against his peers in the provincial examination three years later.

After finishing his side of the story, Lu Mingfei looked at their senior brother, Ye Zhuoran, and Zhang Lingxuan and asked, "What about you? What do you think?"

"What your Mr. Fu means is that he wants Muchun and I to study at Qinglan Academy together. Muchun's family is helping him find connections." Fu Boming said.

Before today, he had thought about going to Qinglan Academy with Feng Muchun to study. But after seeing Feng Muchun's behavior today, he became hesitant.

"We will probably find an academy here in Kyoto Prefecture to study. It won't be too far away." Zhang Lingxuan didn't want to leave Kyoto Prefecture, but he also knew that he was ranked 22nd, and it would be a bit difficult to go to the Imperial Academy with Lu Mingfei.

"I am with Ling Xuan, wherever he goes I go." This is what Ye Zhuoran said. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading