Chapter 12 Not as Good as Male Education
Even as the gong sounded, the two continued their rapid descent, unable to control themselves.
At the critical moment, the sword tip hit the ground before the person. Using the force of the sword's bounce, Lu Jinlan grabbed Yan Wuxin and flipped him over. The two staggered a few steps before finally standing steadily on the stage.
The square, which housed tens of thousands of people, was unusually quiet, but then erupted in a deafening roar a moment later.
Ling Zhixu breathed a sigh of relief and announced to the crowd: "Lu Jinlan of Yunzhou wins!"
Lu Jinlan returned to her seat with apparent composure, looking gratefully at Yan Wuxin across from her.
Actually, when she swung Yan Wuxin back onto the field, she whispered, "Fight around the pillar."
Yan Wuxin went along with it, and Lu Jinlan swung her to the side of the pillar, whereupon she turned around and climbed up.
The viewing angle was backlit, and the pillars were seven or eight meters high, making it difficult to see clearly below. Lu Jinlan deliberately chopped down some wooden blocks to distract everyone's view, making it seem like she was chasing Yan Wuxin with all her might. In reality, it was an exhibition match, and of course, she wasn't really trying to kill her.
Lu Jinlan thought the reason the dean didn't declare her the winner was because the two of them had been too polite in their previous fights. This time, they switched to a more exciting fighting style, with all the moves being high-difficulty.
Lu Jinlan intentionally displayed astonishing strength, making a series of slashes around the top of the pillar before kicking it with all his might, which finally managed to knock off a section of round wood as thick as a water bucket, shocking everyone present.
The effects of the medicine wore off, and she felt completely drained, sweating profusely, with a dull ache in the instep.
Ling Zhixu got ink all over his face and body and went to clean it up. Once the examiner left, the candidates visibly relaxed and began whispering among themselves.
New candidates had already taken the stage, and the audience, having just enjoyed a good show, were eagerly discussing their impressions. The two on stage, however, were performing rather ordinarily, failing to capture anyone's attention. The atmosphere was more lively than a teahouse, with everyone chatting idly.
People nearby were all looking for Lu Jinlan to talk to, and she instantly became a hot topic.
"Congratulations, Lu! You're definitely getting a spot in this year's admissions."
"Student Lu, your swordsmanship is unlike any of the schools I know. May I ask where you learned it?"
"I just saw your article in the 'Collection of Civil Service Examination Papers'. Your policy essays are excellent, and your poems are also very good. Your poem 'Spring River Flower Moon Night' is truly a masterpiece. Do you have any other poems?"
Lu Jinlan was overwhelmed and could only say, "Let's talk slowly after the exam."
Her feet were in terrible pain, so she quietly took off her shoes, crossed one leg, and massaged the back of her foot.
Xiang Ruzhen leaned closer and whispered, "You're a prominent figure now. No matter how things turn out today, people will definitely mention your name when they talk about this grand event in the future. You need to be mindful of your words and actions and set a good example for your classmates."
Lu Jinlan said helplessly, "But my feet hurt."
"Bear with it." Xiang Ruzhen picked up the shoes and put them back on for her, but couldn't help asking curiously, "How did you do that? I'm confident in my natural strength, but there's no way I could have kicked such a thick pillar down."
Lu Jinlan gave an awkward smile, "It was a chance event. If you asked me to kick it now, I could break my leg but the tree wouldn't break."
As they spoke, the winner was decided on stage: the out-of-town candidate had won. Yan Wuxin was right; she and Chu Yishu were the most capable students among the local students of Shenjing. The rest were roughly at the same level as Zuo Suizhi, and some were even inferior to him.
Lu Jinlan looked at Zuo Suizhi with pity; what a terrible matchmaking system.
It was like chickens pecking at each other; neither could last long. An hour passed, and after ten groups of candidates finished, all of them were from out of town.
With Lu Jinlan included, there are already eleven people. For the candidates who come after to secure a spot, they not only need to win, but also need to demonstrate overwhelming strength to squeeze out the winners ahead of them.
Xiang Ruzhen's expression grew increasingly tense. Lu Jinlan held her hand and gently reassured her, "Don't worry, none of them are a match for you. Once you're on stage, be sure to show your strength; the examiners will see it."
Xiang Ruzhen nodded slightly, and her name was finally called on the stage: "Xiang Ruzhen from Mianzhou, facing Ling Zhaoren from Shenjing."
Lu Jinlan's eyes widened suddenly. What a coincidence!
She looked anxiously at Yan Wuxin opposite her. Yan Wuxin shook his head in astonishment and helplessly spread his hands.
Xiang Ruzhen remained calm and composed. She walked onto the arena empty-handed, took out the iron spear she had tested the day before from the weapon rack, and calmly accepted the challenge.
Before Ling Zhaoren even stepped onto the stage, she threw the Kun Gan Youlong Halberd in her hand onto the stage. Once the tip of the halberd had pierced the surface, she leaped onto the stage, immediately winning cheers.
Ling Zhaoren was dressed in a satin red dress, while Xiang Ruzhen was dressed in coarse black cloth. The two stood facing each other, one in red and one in black, making them particularly eye-catching.
As soon as the gong sounded, the two charged at each other like arrows released from a bow. The iron spear and the dragon halberd clashed instantly, the metal scraping and colliding, producing a piercing sound.
Both of them practiced hard martial arts, striving for power and ferocity. Their clothes rustled in the wind as they moved. At that moment, the wind howled, their garments billowed, and the two fought with the imposing force of a thousand armies.
Lu Jinlan watched the match nervously. Zuo Suizhi nudged her shoulder and asked, "In your opinion, who has a better chance of winning?"
Lu Jinlan said, "Ling Zhaoren's moves are skillful, and Ruzhen's strength is abundant. It's hard to tell who will win for the time being, but I have confidence in Ruzhen."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a crisp clang was heard.
Ling Zhaoren slashed downwards, and Xiang Ruzhen raised her spear to block, but the iron spear in her hand suddenly broke in two.
"Ah!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise; this was impossible.
Although some weapons can cut through iron like mud, the iron spear just touched the shaft of the halberd, which has no blade, so how could it break?
Lu Jinlan frowned, a chilling thought popping into her head. She murmured, "There's something wrong with the weapon. Someone tampered with it."
"Impossible, right?" The other test-takers were skeptical. "This is a nationally watched exam; who would dare to rig it?"
Despite the sudden damage to her weapon, Ling Zhaoren did not stop. Xiang Ruzhen had no choice but to hold the spearhead in one hand and the shaft in the other, defending herself while retreating.
Ling Zhaoren intensified his attack, and when he reached the weapon rack, Xiang Ruzhen immediately pulled out a wooden stick and switched from defense to offense.
But within three moves, the wooden stick snapped in two again.
Lu Jinlan couldn't hold back any longer. She stood up and protested, "There's something wrong with the weapon!"
She should have realized it sooner. Ruzhen was the strongest among the out-of-town candidates. She showed off her skills yesterday, and today she coincidentally got matched with a top-notch expert like Ling Zhaoren.
Everyone else brought their own weapons, but Ruzhen only knew how to use the weapons provided in the examination hall. And yet, the weapons that were perfectly fine yesterday suddenly broke today, whether made of iron or wood. Isn't that strange?
Furthermore, if Ruzhen had entered the arena earlier, she would have only needed to win. But instead, after winning eleven matches in another city, they arranged for her to enter. Giving her the worst possible entry order, the strongest opponent, and the worst weapon—it was incredibly coincidental.
"There's something wrong with the weapon!"
As they spoke, the spear in Xiang Ruzhen's hand broke. But Ling Zhaoren showed no sign of stopping, so Xiang Ruzhen had no choice but to keep dodging around the weapon rack.
Even the candidates who had just denied Lu Jinlan realized what was happening, and the out-of-town candidates shouted in unison: "The weapon is faulty! The weapon is faulty!"
The assistant examiner slammed his hand on the table and said, "Anyone who makes loud noise and disrupts the examination room will be disqualified from admission."
Those around him immediately fell silent. Lu Jinlan angrily said, "Why? Anyone with eyes can see that the weapons have been tampered with. Why can't people say it?"
The examiner shouted, "Lu Jinlan, don't think that just because you won, you can act recklessly and talk nonsense. The Royal Academy doesn't need another student like you."
Lu Jinlan couldn't help but sneer, "An academy that can't even conduct fair selection, no matter how famous it is, is just a flashy but empty den of iniquity. What's so special about it? No matter how you threaten me today, I'm going to say it."
She not only wanted to speak, but she also wanted everyone to hear it.
Lu Jinlan was burning with rage, and she couldn't even feel the pain in her feet. She jumped onto a stool and loudly proclaimed to the tens of thousands of onlookers: "Everyone, as you have all witnessed today, in broad daylight, the academy's selection process is rife with behind-the-scenes manipulation and is completely unfair."
The assistant examiner roared, "Guards, throw Lu Jinlan out!"
Lu Jinlan turned around and saw a group of local students from Beijing running towards her. Yan Wuxin hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran in another direction. Only Zuo Suizhi was there with a few students from other places blocking her way.
Xiang Ruzhen was still stubbornly holding on with her broken weapon, but Lu Jinlan didn't care anymore. She pointed at the stage and scolded, "Ling Zhaoren, what kind of good woman are you, taking advantage of someone in distress? You barely managed to beat Xiang Ruzhen, and that's not exactly honorable."
Ling Zhaoren couldn't help but retort angrily, "The winner is king and the loser is a thief. What's all this talk about being upright and honorable? Do you have to bother with your nonsense?"
"You admit it? Everyone heard it. You must spread what you saw and heard today. The Royal Academy is a deceitful and shabby place. You resort to dirty tricks when you can't win. What kind of person is that? Ling Zhaoren, your victory was not honorable. The Dragon Halberd in your hand is not even as good as a man's embroidery needle. An embroidery needle can still embroider, but all you do is bully people."
By now, the local students who had come to grab her had already started fighting with the out-of-town students around them. Many of them had just fought on stage and were still venting their anger on the losers.
Some out-of-town students didn't want to get involved, but the two groups mingled together and a fight broke out without them even realizing it. Fists and kicks don't discriminate, and everyone was young and hot-blooded; even strangers who got hit by a blow simply rolled up their sleeves and joined in.
With the situation so chaotic, Lu Jinlan was desperate, spewing inflammatory rhetoric, determined to escalate the situation. She was willing to give up her studies to ruin Ling Zhaoren and the Royal Academy's reputation.
"What royal academy? I think it's more like the Ling family academy, it's not even as good as a boys' school!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a booming shout rang out from afar: "Who says the Royal Academy is inferior even to a men's academy?"
The voice carried an overwhelming sense of authority and pressure, instantly silencing the noisy slaughterhouse and drawing everyone's attention to it.
Ling Zhixu strode in, her face half-blackened by ink, followed by Yan Wuxin.
Seeing the fight still going on stage, Yan Wuxin said urgently, "Ling Zhaoren! The Dean is here, why aren't you stopping?"
The two on stage paused for a moment. Xiang Ruzhen dropped the broken half of her long sword and turned around. At the same time, Lu Jinlan and Yan Wuxin shouted, "Watch out!"
A note from the author:
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I pondered the word "fairness" for a long time, looking up the meaning of the character "公" (gong, public/public). There are eleven interpretations, the first being: 1. Belonging to the state or collective, not privately owned (opposite of "private"); 2. Common, universally recognized, and applicable to the majority (e.g., universal principles and conventions); 3. Belonging to international relations (e.g., the high seas)... Only the last four usages are related to men, such as "公的" (gongde, public), "公公" (gonggong, father-in-law), and "公子" (gongzi, son). The word "fairness" actually has nothing to do with men, so I won't replace it.
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