But soon the sound of a wheelchair was heard, followed by a burst of delighted laughter: "What wind blew the Grand Master here today? I've made some progress on the train you mentioned last time, but the difficulty lies in the fact that laying tracks across the entire country would probably cost an astronomical sum..."
Zu An chuckled: "Railways are indeed a bit troublesome. Not only will it cost a fortune to carve through mountains and build roads, but special departments must also be set up along the route for maintenance to prevent damage from other people or ferocious beasts. We don't need to implement it nationwide at first; we can just find a section near the capital for a pilot project..."
Hearing the two talking, Sang Qian and Zheng Dan looked at each other in bewilderment. They couldn't understand what the two were saying at all, but they thought it sounded very impressive.
After chatting for a while, Shenxuzi couldn't help but exclaim, "The Grand Master is so young, yet he has so many ingenious ideas, and they are quite feasible. Sometimes I really doubt that you are from this world."
Zuan's heart skipped a beat; his transmigration was arguably the biggest secret he carried.
At this moment, Zheng Dan laughed and said, "If he doesn't belong to this world, then which world could he belong to?"
"A banished immortal from heaven, of course." Shen Xuzi laughed heartily, clearly not really doubting Zu An's origins. He looked at Zheng Dan and Sang Qian, his eyes lighting up. He thought to himself, "The Grand Master is indeed a young man; the women accompanying him are always different, and all of them are stunningly beautiful." "And these two are..."
"This is Zheng Dan, who previously became a disciple of Master Yan. This is Sang Qian, the daughter of Sang Hong, the Minister of Revenue," Zu An introduced.
“I remember now,” Shen Xuzi looked at Zheng Dan with a strange expression. “Others who become disciples of the senior brother are afraid of missing a single day of learning, but you are different. You haven’t come to class since you became a disciple.”
Zheng Dan felt somewhat embarrassed and worried. Even Shen Xuzi had this opinion, so wouldn't Master Yan be equally dissatisfied?
"There were some things going on at home before," Sang Qian explained, feeling a little apologetic. Dan Dan had only ended up in this passive position because she was trying to help her.
“I know, I know, having a baby,” Shenxuzi’s gaze fell on her, then swept back and forth over Zu’an. “Is the Grand Master planning to have her join his sect?”
Zuan couldn't help but laugh: "As expected, nothing can be hidden from you."
Sang Qian also bowed respectfully: "I hope you will grant my request, teacher!"
"Don't call me teacher yet," Shenxuzi snorted, and with a wave of his hand, a mechanical puppet dog came running over with a scroll of paper in its mouth, walking with a unique gait. "You should finish this introductory test first, and I'll see how aptitude you have before deciding whether to accept you or not."
What a joke! Do you think I, the esteemed Shen Xuzi, have no pride? Over the years, countless noble families have tried to find me, but I've always deterred them with this exam paper.
However, since the chief priest personally brought people here, he had to give her face. Even if she did poorly, he would still accept her as a student. He would announce to the outside world that she had passed the test, and no one could find fault with that. He had also preserved his dignity of not bowing to the powerful and wealthy. How clever!
Hmph, but I have the least respect for people with connections. I'll just teach her a little bit later; she won't understand anything if I teach her something too profound anyway.
Sang Qian glanced at Zu An with some concern, but Zu An smiled and said, "It's alright, just do it."
At the same time, Yuan Qi transmitted a message to her, telling her that this was mostly just a formality, and that she should at least give Shen Xuzi some face.
Sang Qian didn't think so. If she wanted to become an apprentice, she naturally had to get the master's approval. If the other party only agreed because of the pressure from her elder brother, she would inevitably criticize her elder brother and might not be able to teach her any real skills.
I took a deep breath, picked up the test paper, and started working on it.
At first she was very confident, but as she continued, her face grew paler and paler, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Seeing this, Zheng Dan secretly tiptoed to take a look, only to find that what she saw was a book written in heaven. She recognized each character, but why couldn't she understand it when they were put together?
There are all sorts of messy graphics on it, just looking at them is enough to give you a headache.
Comparatively speaking, Master Yan's talisman formations are more systematic.
"Time's up, are you done?" Shen Xuzi's lips curled up slightly. Hmph, this isn't a place where just anyone with connections can come.
"I...I only finished half of it." Sang Qian was almost in tears. She originally wanted to leave a good impression on Shen Xuzi and at the same time save face for her brother Zu. Who knew that she would not know how to answer half of the questions on the test paper.
This is incredibly embarrassing. Even though my great-uncle didn't say it, he must be very disappointed in me.
Sang Qian, you always consider yourself resourceful and clever, but you really don't know your own limitations.
"It's already quite good that you've done half of it, considering there are many people working together..." Shen Xuzi's eyes widened suddenly halfway through his sentence, "How much did you just say you've done?"
"One... half." Sang Qian felt a little guilty. She couldn't even pass the first grade. Oh well, she'd better see if she could study somewhere else.
Shen Xuzi snatched her test paper, quickly looked at the answers, and his expression was quite interesting. Finally, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"What's wrong?" Zu An asked, seeing Sang Qian's anxious expression.
Who knew that Shen Xuzi would grab his hand and say, "Chancellor, oh Chancellor, why didn't you send such a peerless genius to me sooner? My mantle has a successor!"
"A peerless genius?"
The group looked at each other, wondering if someone who only did half of it could be considered a genius.
Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Shen Xuzi explained, "I actually deliberately put out this exam paper to discourage certain aristocratic families in the capital, so that people wouldn't try to squeeze their children in all the time. Most people can't even answer one question. The best performer before only answered three questions. I even wrote a recommendation letter for him to study at the academy ahead."
"But this young lady was able to make half of it; what else could she be but a peerless genius?"
Shen Xuzi looked at Sang Qian excitedly: "Xiao Qian, are you married?"
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