Chapter 8 The Ancient Scholar Used as Cannon Fodder (Part 8) The Deer Cry Banquet is...

The Deer Cry Banquet was hosted by the Prefect and the Chief Examiner. Not only the successful candidates of this year's examinations, but also the previous candidates were welcome to attend.

Lin You thought it was just a dinner party hosted by the teachers, where they would write poems, drink wine, and flatter each other, much like a modern college entrance banquet.

Who would have thought that the ancients' elaborate rituals and etiquette were so outrageous? Even a simple banquet for a candidate for the imperial examinations was made so complicated.

After having breakfast, Chu Nanfeng went out and arrived at the banquet hall. There, he and many others diligently followed the instructions of the master of ceremonies and rehearsed the proceedings.

Where the new candidates enter, where the veteran candidates wait, when to respond, when to bow, and when to kneel—every detail carries a special meaning.

When Lin You watched them rehearse for the first time, she found it quite interesting, but when they practiced the same move repeatedly, she got a little bored.

Young people were a minority among the successful candidates in the imperial examinations; most of them had long beards. So, a group of middle-aged and elderly men were really not a good sight to behold.

Since the rehearsal wasn't dangerous, Lin You stopped keeping a close eye on it. She told Chu Nanfeng and then ran off to play in the garden.

Although she had been traveling around during this time, she had never seen such a garden before, which was much rarer than watching a rehearsal.

Even after becoming a system, Lin You still remembered that she was a person. As a person, she naturally had to have basic morals and bottom lines, and she couldn't just wander into other people's homes.

She's here as a guest, and as a guest, it's not unreasonable for her to stroll around the garden.

The scenery here is undoubtedly excellent, ranking among the best in the entire county. It features meticulously designed artificial mountains and lakes, as well as pavilions and towers with carved beams and painted pillars, truly offering a beautiful view at every turn.

Lin You stayed in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, watching the fish in the lake snatch a withered leaf, until she heard a somewhat rousing piece of music. Only then did she realize that the auspicious time had arrived and the Deer Cry Banquet was finally beginning. Only then did she return to Chu Nanfeng's side.

The ornate blessings and encouragement were read aloud by the dignified prefect in his official robes, and the crowd rose, bowed, and sang along loudly.

Exquisite dishes were served one after another, and fine wines were also brought to the table. Each dish was beautifully presented and held special significance.

Unfortunately, everyone only touched their chopsticks a few times as a formality, and the wine barely touched their lips. The kind of drunken and disorderly behavior in such occasions, as depicted in novels, was simply impossible.

Then the candidates composed poems and essays to praise the emperor. Chu Nanfeng, who came in second place, also wrote two poems.

A group of people first praised the current emperor for his wisdom, diligence, and love for the people, then said that the world was in a peaceful and prosperous era, and praised the prefect for his noble character, selflessness, and dedication to public service, etc.

Lin You was listening attentively at first, but the person was quoting classical texts and she couldn't understand what they were saying at all, which made her even more bored.

By the time the banquet ended, it was already dusk. Chu Nanfeng politely bid farewell to the other candidates, then gracefully returned to his residence. Once inside, he collapsed onto the bed and remained motionless.

Lin You thought about his activity level today, and realized it wasn't that much. A palace banquet would be much more complicated than this. Chu Nanfeng really needs to work out his body properly.

After barely managing to swallow the nutrition bar Lin You handed him, Chu Nanfeng whispered his thanks and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up again, the sun was almost high in the sky. Fortunately, it wasn't time for his appointment yet, so Lin You didn't wake him up in advance.

Of the eight students from the academy, including Han Qige, only Chu Nanfeng passed the exam; another scholar surnamed Zhang made it onto the supplementary list.

Although the supplementary list does not grant the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination), it still has its advantages. In the future, he can study at the official school of the county government, where there are educational officials assigned by the imperial court, whose knowledge is more advanced than that of teachers in ordinary academies.

The pile of things Lin You accompanied Chu Nanfeng to buy looked scattered and complicated, but after being packed, it only amounted to two slightly larger packages. Chu Nanfeng carried them without much difficulty, so there was no need to hire someone to help deliver them.

He carried his books to the east of the city. His classmates, seeing him from afar, eagerly came to greet him and helped him carry his things to the car.

Four oxcarts were hired in total. Except for Chu Nanfeng, all the other candidates came with someone. There were fifteen of them in total, and they could look after each other on the way back.

A group of people wanted to ride in the same car as Chu Nanfeng, but there were limited seats. It's unclear how they discussed it, but in the end, Han Qige, Zhang Shusheng, and another Zhao Shusheng went with him.

The car was fairly large, and it wasn't too crowded for four people, but apart from Han Qige, everyone else had brought back quite a lot of things, so the car was quite packed.

The bumpy ride didn't affect their conversation. Zhang Shusheng took the opportunity to ask Chu Nanfeng a few questions, then went off to ponder with his book in hand.

After chatting with another classmate for a few more minutes, Chu Nanfeng suddenly said, looking at Han Qige who had remained silent:

“Qige, with my official title, I can be exempted from taxes on two hundred mu of land. I remember your family has more than thirty mu of land. You can register it with me, and you will have a better harvest in the future.”

Seeing that Chu Nanfeng had passed the imperial examination and was still so devoted to his friend Han Qige, the other two were filled with envy.

Han Qige felt a chill run down his spine. His previous schemes were not clever; he mainly relied on Chu Nanfeng's lack of vigilance, which resulted in the entire plan failing.

He had been thinking about it repeatedly these past few days, and judging from their interactions, he couldn't tell whether Nanfeng had noticed his scheme or not.

In this case, registering land under the name of a scholar requires going to the government office to transfer the property deed to the scholar. Legally speaking, once the land is registered, it no longer belongs to him.

This is equivalent to someone telling you in modern times, "Transfer your house to me, and I'll pay your mortgage for you."

Let alone ordinary friends, even siblings from the same mother, few would agree to this kind of thing.

"No need, Brother Chu, your family isn't well-off. If you give up this share, you can at least receive some reward money. If I offer you a reward money, Brother Chu definitely won't accept it." Han Qige shook her head and refused, giving a very considerate reason.

The other two people in the carriage gave Han Qige a strange look. Registering the land under the name of the scholar was not only part of the reason for tax exemption, but more importantly, it showed that they had a close relationship with this scholar.

Neither of them expected that Han Qige was refusing the benefits that were offered to him because he was afraid that Chu Nanfeng would take away his family's land.

In their town, where literary culture was not prevalent, only one scholar could be found in every ten miles and villages. Apart from their teacher and the county magistrate, the only other person who had passed the imperial examination was Chu Nanfeng, who had just achieved the second-highest rank in the provincial examination.

Chu Nanfeng not only passed the preliminary round of the imperial examination, but he is also only seventeen years old. If he works hard, it is not impossible for him to pass the imperial examination. He has a bright future ahead of him.

Some local gentry and landlords would love to give away their land for free and also want to establish this relationship. After all, even though he was only a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), he was still considered to have half an official position. This relationship could save his life in a critical moment.

The other two couldn't understand Han Qige's actions, and Han Qige also couldn't understand their strange expressions.

The generation gap spanning thousands of years is not so easily bridged, especially since Han Qige has been in this world for so long but has never considered herself a backward ancient person, and she has never taken the initiative to understand these underlying rules.

Lin You was thinking in sync with Han Qige, and she also asked Chu Nanfeng, "Isn't registering farmland just about saving on taxes? You still have to take on risks, so why did those two look at Han Qige like he was an idiot after he refused?"

“In your time, the law was supreme, but here, reason and emotion often take precedence over the law. Even when the county magistrate is judging a case, he has to consider reason and emotion…” Chu Nanfeng patiently explained the situation to her in detail.

My sister is easygoing and has a good personality, but she is too naive and has no sense of self-protection whatsoever.

Judging from the few words she uttered, this was her first task.

The first task is to elevate a poor scholar, who is about to be framed, to the rank of first-grade official; what follows will likely be even more difficult.

She can be good-tempered and indifferent to gains and losses, but she cannot be naive. That so-called mission world sounds treacherous and unpredictable, and it cannot tolerate her naivety.

Chu Nanfeng told Lin You everything about his plan, the hints in his words, and the information he had deliberately let slip the day before.

But all she got in return was two "uh-huhs" in response from Lin You, followed by a happy compliment of "You're really amazing," and that was it.

Chu Nanfeng sighed inwardly. Oh well, there's plenty of time. He can teach her slowly and eventually teach her some cunning and strategy... right?

The oxcart creaked and groaned along, stopping every now and then to let the oxen rest and eat some grass. The pace was quite slow, not much faster than walking.

Because they were students taking the imperial examination, they were traveling on a relatively smooth official road, which was much better than other roads. But in Lin You's eyes, it was just a dirt road that had been compacted a bit more.

The wooden wheels on it, without any shock absorption measures, looked extremely bumpy.

Lin You was originally sitting on Chu Nanfeng's shoulders. Although she couldn't feel the bumps, seeing the four people in the car swaying back and forth, she suddenly had the illusion of motion sickness.

She greeted Chu Nanfeng and then slipped outside to sit on the roof of the car. Although it was still a bit swaying, at least the air was fresh and the view was expansive.

Lin You had always grown up in the city and had never seen the scenery of the mountains and fields before. As she traveled around, she didn't find it boring at all.

Now the autumn grass has turned yellow, and only a few clumps of wild chrysanthemums are still blooming by the roadside. Occasionally, you can see clusters of unidentified red berries hanging on trees on distant cliffs.

As she was counting the different colors of the wild chrysanthemums along the road, she saw a dazzling patch of bright red in the ditch opposite.

Thinking it was some kind of brightly colored flower or plant, Lin You flew over curiously to take a look, only to discover upon closer inspection that it was actually a person covered in blood.

The man's clothes were mostly stained with blood, his eyes were closed, his face was ashen, and his lips were bloodless, but his fingers were still moving.

"Chu Nanfeng, to the east... to the east slope, there's a person lying there, bleeding a lot! He, he's still alive!" Lin You was so frightened that she hurriedly ran back to the car to call for help, her voice stammering.

"I'll go check first. It's alright, sister. Don't be afraid. Don't go near that area." Chu Nanfeng quickly reassured her gently, hearing her still-shaken tone.

Chu Nanfeng certainly wouldn't just get out of the car to rescue people. It was already past noon, so he and the others in the car discussed stopping to have a meal before continuing.

The other three readily agreed; after being jostled around in the oxcart for half a day, they also wanted to get off and relax.

When the others saw them stop, they all got off the vehicle. The group huddled together to stretch their muscles, start a fire, cook, and eat something.

People were already eager to do the tasks of gathering firewood and starting a fire, so Chu Nanfeng pulled the others along, looking like he was about to compose poems.

"The scenery over there is better." Chu Nanfeng led a group of people eastward without making a sound.

Sure enough, they found a man on the grassy slope. His blood had soaked the surrounding ground, which explained why Lin You was so frightened.

Chu Nanfeng looked closely and realized it was a familiar face—the yellow-robed scholar he had met at the teahouse yesterday.

The group of frail scholars had never seen such a scene before and were all startled. The grassy slope was steep but not deep. Chu Nanfeng was the first to jump down and checked his breathing.

"He's still alive!" As soon as these words were spoken, people nearby rushed over to help, and the group of people hurriedly carried the half-dead man upstairs.

He didn't have any luggage or identification. When Chu Nanfeng told them that he was also a scholar who had come to take the exam, everyone gasped.

“He has three wounds, none of them are vital, but he has lost too much blood. We don’t have any medicine on hand, and we are still more than 20 miles away from the next county town. Even if we take him there, the chances of survival are slim.”

The speaker was Zhao Shusheng, whose name was Zhao Jingmo. His father was a doctor, and he himself knew some medical skills. After taking the pulse, he couldn't help but frown.

Chu Nanfeng looked around and said, "Go north from the fork in the road ahead. Jin County is less than ten miles away. We've met once before. I'll take him there to find a doctor. I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate."

Han Qige suddenly said, "He has no money on him and his luggage is gone. He's probably been robbed. There's no village or shop in sight here, and we don't know which way the thief went. It's not safe for you to go alone."

Zhao Jingmo tore off a clean piece of clothing, bandaged the wound, and then looked up. "I'll go with you. There are no hemostatic herbs around here, so we can only temporarily suppress the bleeding by pressing on the acupoints."

A note from the author:

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Chu Nanfeng: She's calling me "elder sister," but it's like she's got a younger sister?