Chapter 3 This High-Level Game
Ouyang Rong lay on his back on the bed with his eyes closed, and he thought of that postgraduate entrance exam group whose name sounded particularly serious.
Actually, when the group was first created, it was indeed for the purpose of preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, but as everyone knows, the postgraduate entrance examination group eventually started talking about everything except the exam.
At first, someone mentioned gaming during a break from studying—no one realized the seriousness of the issue at the time—and naturally, the conversation turned into playing games together... and then it became a gaming group, but this was just the beginning.
I don't know when it happened, but a new member was added to the group. His profile picture was a funny smiling face wearing a feather fan and turban. Sure enough, he was a guy who was full of confidence and dared to know everything. Soon, he started the group's political commentary mode.
Later, the 'group version' changed again, and the administrators stopped distributing postgraduate entrance exam materials. Instead, they created mysterious codes, audio and text messages that gradually depleted the energy and stamina of the group members, causing them to suffer from severe malnutrition. So, on a dark and stormy night, they quietly added a note to the group name, which eventually became "The Gentlemen's Postgraduate Entrance Exam Group of [University Name] (Girls Not Allowed)".
"Now look what's happened, I've truly become a gentleman," Ouyang Rong lamented.
The day before yesterday, after he crawled out of the underground palace, he fainted outside the Beitian Temple. He was then sent back to the Sanhui Temple by the young monk with beautiful hair and others to recuperate. He was sometimes awake and sometimes unconscious, and he stayed in bed intermittently for two days.
I've finally processed most of the memories of the 'fighting' in my mind.
Regarding the original owner, there is good news and bad news.
Good news, the original owner of this body was a virtuous gentleman.
Bad news: the original owner of this body was a virtuous gentleman!
It might sound a bit convoluted.
The original owner also had the surname Ouyang and the given name Rong, but he also had a courtesy name, Lianghan.
Orphaned at the age of four, he was frail and sickly. His mother, Zhao, remained chaste and raised him with great care, hoping he would become successful. Ouyang Lianghan lived up to expectations, being kind and filial, and his reputation spread throughout the village. He was also diligent and studious, achieving the top score in the county examination and entering Bailudong Academy.
In the first year of the Jiushi era of the Wei Zhou dynasty, he passed the imperial examination at the young age of eighteen, and his name became famous throughout Jiangnan. He was the youngest Jinshi from the south since the founding of the Wei Zhou dynasty and even the Li Gan dynasty.
Why mention "Wei Zhou" and then "Li Gan"?
This is because the current empire was originally established by Emperor Taizong of the Li clan eighty years ago, and the country was named Gan. However, after the death of the third emperor of Gan, Empress Dowager Wei ruled as regent, successively deposed her two sons, and ascended the throne herself, abolishing the Gan dynasty in one fell swoop. She changed the country name to Zhou, moved the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang, called "Shendu", and established Wei Zhou, which has lasted for eight years.
At present, undercurrents are surging in the Wei Zhou court. There are still many former officials from the Li and Gan families who are concerned about the future of the dynasty. Moreover, the Empress is getting old, and the struggle for the imperial succession between the Li and Wei families is nearing its end... Ouyang Rong can understand why the young monk with spiky hair changed his tune on the previous day.
However, while processing this memory, it seemed strangely familiar... But after careful examination, he discovered that this dynasty was quite different from the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties of his previous life. Not only were some key figures not matching, but most notably, there seemed to be a small group called "Qi Cultivators" in this world, which had continued since the pre-Qin period and had participated in the entire historical process of nearly a thousand years.
It's rumored that Qi cultivators exist within the current Great Zhou court and army, each seemingly possessing a system related to the Yin-Yang School and the Military School… And the most deeply involved and largest Qi cultivator force, according to hearsay, left Ouyang Rong speechless—it's the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, also known as the three manifest sects. He's also heard of some reclusive practitioners overseas and in famous mountains and rivers, but they aren't actively involved in worldly affairs, and stories of them using chivalry to disrupt or suppress order are rarely heard of…
Let's get back to the original story.
Because he was the youngest among the successful candidates in the imperial examination in the first year of the Jiushi era, and also had a handsome appearance, he was directly selected as the third-ranked scholar at the Xingyuan Banquet in Luoyang that year. He was one of the most outstanding candidates in the same year, except for the newly appointed top scholar. He was riding high and enjoying the spring breeze, seeing all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day.
Countless wealthy families wanted to find a son-in-law through the imperial examinations, but unfortunately, the original owner was a virtuous gentleman who never went to a brothel during his time in Luoyang for the imperial examinations. He was even jokingly called "uninterested in women" by the scholars of Luoyang.
If that were all, Ouyang Lianghan would at most be a newly promoted pretty face among the literati of the capital. What truly made him famous was... his willingness to step up when needed.
At the Xingyuan Banquet in Luoyang, our newly appointed "Tanhua Lang" (third-ranked scholar) dared to submit a memorial in court with a flushed face after a few sips of wine, advising Empress Wei against starting wars on the border and to allow the people to rest and recuperate.
However, whether it was good luck or a benefactor speaking on his behalf, the Empress was pleased rather than angry upon hearing his name, and smiled as she recited, "The Zhou state is overjoyed, for the Rong have gained a fine talent."
This is a line from the poem "Da Ya" (大雅), and it is also the story behind how Ouyang Lianghan's teachers at Bailudong Academy gave him his courtesy name. It roughly means: "The people of Zhou are all happy, and the country has pillars of the state and is at peace."
Unexpectedly, the banquet at Xingyuan Garden turned out to be a safe and sound affair. Empress Wei accepted him as a concubine, praising him as a "lost gem of the southeast" and appointing him as a corrector in the Imperial Library. The last person to receive such an honor was the current prime minister, Master Di, who was once praised by the empress as "the only one in the south".
However, after being appointed to his post at the Xingyuan Banquet, Ouyang Lianghan had not yet taken office when a letter arrived from home informing him of his mother's death. Without hesitation, he resigned and left the capital to return home to observe mourning. During this time, he observed the mourning period with utmost care and grief, and it was said that he was the most strict official in observing mourning in the past eighty years.
As a result, Ouyang Lianghan's reputation for being extremely filial and pure spread far and wide, and his story of loving mother and filial son became almost as famous as the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars of the time. Even the imperial court made an exception and posthumously conferred upon his mother the title of Imperial Lady, erecting a memorial arch to honor her...
Logically, with this opportunity, he should have been able to rise to prominence immediately after returning to Beijing. However, the title of "upright gentleman" recognized by the whole world is not something that comes easily.
After the original owner of this body finished mourning his mother, he returned to the capital and took office, and once again risked his life to remonstrate with the emperor.
This time, he turned his attention to Princess Chang Le, who was extremely powerful and favored beyond measure in the court, exposing her extravagant property purchases that competed with the people for profit, as well as her banquets and parties to build up her faction.
Princess Chang Le was the youngest daughter of the Empress. With only a few princes left after being slaughtered by her ruthless mother, she was still able to live a lively and healthy life, which naturally made her the favorite of the Empress Wei.
The Empress was slightly angered and dismissed Ouyang Lianghan from his post in court, ordering him to be flogged fifty times. If it weren't for the advice of senior officials from the Bailudong Academy lineage, he would have been imprisoned.
Not long after, seemingly due to the uproar in the literary circles of the capital, the original owner was suddenly reinstated and promoted; however, it was a promotion in name only, and he was kicked out of the capital and sent to Jiangzhou, one of the ten provinces, to serve as the magistrate of the remote Longcheng County.
Far from the bustling city of Luoyang, where can one find the noble and refined life of a ninth-rank official in Lintai, who "only drinks wine to send off the spring and spends his days playing chess"?
But after this incident, the name "Ouyang Lianghan" became associated with upright gentlemen, and his fame spread throughout the world. Scholars from both the north and south praised him highly, calling him "a true gentleman."
However, Ouyang Rong sighed after he had roughly digested these fragments of memory.
Lying on the bed with his eyes closed, he pointed to his own nose, both laughing and crying, and scolded himself:
"Good lad, you're a prime example of someone who can't think straight. You've lost everything this time. Aside from some empty fame, you've lost everything but your underwear. No, you can't even take away this officially certified third-place handsome face... But you're being used as a knife without even realizing it. You're like a knife that's used and then discarded, something the person behind you is afraid of getting stuck with."
"That Empress Wei is a hen crowing at dawn, and her establishment of the country is illegitimate. The Great Zhou Dynasty may seem prosperous, but in reality, it is like oil being poured on a fire. The hearts of the royal family have not been lost. Even though they are now cowardly and there are few members of the royal family left, the general public's support and the general trend of the times are still there."
"There are probably many people inside and outside the court who sympathize with and miss the emperor. The Guanlong clans who followed the emperor when the country was founded are still deeply rooted, especially the traditional civil officials and conservative forces. They have been supporting the emperor for seventy years. These are not things that can be cut off so easily. It is possible that your mentor and the big shots from Bailudong Academy are also secretly supporting the emperor and hoping that the empress will return power to the Li family and start a new wave of emperors... But you are different."
"Hey, no matter how arrogant and domineering Princess Chang Le is, she still bears the surname Li. It's possible that the few remaining members of the Li clan have been developing under her protection all these years. She's generally aligned with the pro-government faction. Why are you arguing with her? You'll just be used as a tool by the Wei clan. And did she even protect you afterward? She only has a hollow reputation and academy background. But who knows, those officials who paved the way for you in court might now look at you like you're a fool..."
"Those scholars and officials below are just people who seek fame and fortune and enjoy watching the show. What good are the empty titles they give you? And believe it or not, demoting you to Longcheng County to manage the floods might be a trap. They're sure you're just a pretty face. If they can't control the floods, even this little bit of empty title will be gone..."
"Forget it, I won't say anymore. None of these people are good people."
Ouyang Rong opened his eyes, stared at the bed curtains and muttered to himself: "Even I, a political commentator who stays in the shadows, understand this principle. You, a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), have no sense of smell at all. All you know is how to study and take exams, right?"
"...What, you're saying you actually guessed some of it, but still submitted a memorial the very next morning? All the officials in the court remained silent, but you saw it and couldn't stay silent. You even had your old servant prepare a coffin before you went to court?"
The room was quiet for a while.
"Okay, no wonder you're more successful than me, but you're a bit too hard on yourself."
Ouyang Rong sighed, got up, put on his clothes, and walked to the washbasin beside the bed.
He glanced at the distant mountains outside the small window: "This is a high-level game."
Then I looked down at the gaunt face reflected in the basin. To be honest, it did look a bit like Hu Ge, especially from the first Legend of Sword and Fairy series. I just wonder if the wound on his forehead will leave a scar...
Well, giving others a way out is also a kind of good deed.
With a little trick to accumulate merit every day, Ouyang Rong smiled, and his mood didn't seem so bad anymore. Who knows, maybe one day when he's accumulated enough merit, Buddha will send him home, right?
"The original body is almost identical to me. Is it a parallel universe version of me from past lives? It seems I actually have a lot of potential in my studies, as long as I don't have to memorize those damn vocabulary words..."
Suddenly, Ouyang Rong pulled his hand away from the water, and before he could dry it, he darted back into bed like a rabbit, lay down again, closed his eyes, and pretended to breathe rhythmically.
A series of hurried footsteps approached from outside.
Two days ago, various people came to see him, including the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and registrar of Longcheng, as well as local gentry and celebrities, but he did not go to see them because he was in a "coma".
There are some things that Ouyang Rong hasn't fully thought through yet, and he doesn't want to see these fake-concerned foxes for the time being.
Before the people outside arrived, Ouyang Rong heard two voices arguing in the corridor. One of them sounded familiar, while the other was unfamiliar.
"Don't stop me, young master! What have you done to the Ming family? Why won't you let me see them? Are you doing one of those 'slow and steady' schemes, keeping a sick person on the verge of death?!"
"Young Master Yan, you can't joke like that. You're from Longcheng County too. How could our Donglin Temple possibly do such a shady business as a roadside doctor!" Xiufa seemed startled.
"Hmph, it'd better not be. Let me tell you, Magistrate Ming is a scholar personally selected by the Emperor of our Great Zhou Dynasty. If something happens to him in your temple... you can expect to spend the rest of your lives building a pagoda there."
“Hey, Officer, you’re joking. The county magistrate looks like a man of great integrity. He’ll probably be enshrined in the Confucian Temple as a disciple of Confucius. He’s blessed with good fortune, how could anything happen to him?” Xiufa sighed. “…Building a pagoda, our temple really can’t build any more pagodas. Several have already collapsed inexplicably.”
"I knew your temple was wicked," the man called Little Swallow said angrily. "Then why won't you let me see the magistrate?"
"Our host said that the magistrate is mentally and physically exhausted and needs to rest."
"He's supposed to be resting, but he hasn't woken up yet after almost three days! You guys lied to me and said he'd be fine in two days at most, I didn't believe you!"
"This... I don't know either. It's strange, why isn't he awake yet in broad daylight, sir? He always gets up to eat at mealtimes."
"Get out of my way!"
"Ouch, that hurts! Officer, officer, you can't kick me! There's an old saying in Longcheng: 'Don't hit a monk, and don't hit a skinny monk.' This monk fits both descriptions perfectly! Oh, please stop! Don't hit a person outside the secular world! It'll deduct your merit points..."
"I'll give you a piece of my mind!"
"..." beautiful hair.
Squeak—
Ouyang Rong heard the sound of the door being pushed open and slammed open from the outside.
"Your Excellency!"
With his eyes closed, Ouyang Rong felt a gust of wind brush past him; the person had arrived.
This man should be called Yan Wuxu. He is the son of the county magistrate of Longcheng. Like Ouyang Rong, he had just taken over his father's position as the head constable in the yamen.
Although he seems a bit loud and boisterous, he's actually quite responsible. The day Ouyang Rong fell into the water, it was he and several cooks who jumped in to save him. Also, "Mingfu" seems to be a respectful title for a county magistrate…
Some impressions flashed through Ouyang Rong's mind, and at the same time he felt his arm being pushed a few times. He continued to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep, relaxing his breathing.
The person in front of the bed seemed to stare at him for a while, and then... suddenly with a "clang," he drew his sword and sprang into action.
"Damn it! It's over..." Ouyang Rong's breath caught in his throat; at this moment, only one thought occupied his mind:
Was it Princess Chang Le? Or was it someone sent by the Wei clan to finish her off? Was it really necessary to go to such extremes...?
I'm soft-hearted and won't write angst or anything tragic, especially since the female characters won't suffer. There's a career storyline and a romance storyline, with occasional sweet moments. It's a lighthearted and humorous story, so enjoy!
(End of this chapter)
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