Chapter 64 The Return Journey (2)
Ah Sheng said with a forced smile, "Young master, let's call it a day after the exam. When are we going back?"
Distracted by the two of them, Meng Guanqi's mood improved. He then thought, "So what if I don't pass? At least this test has shown me that there are always people more capable than me. Besides, the imperial examination is never smooth sailing. Otherwise, how could there be students over fifty still taking the county-level exam? I'm only fourteen. Now that I know my shortcomings, I have plenty of opportunities to catch up."
He quickly adjusted his mindset, and after a moment's thought, he said, "The matter is settled, and we have to face it. Let's prepare to go back tomorrow."
Ah Sheng was delighted: "Yes."
Today is December 16th, and there are only a dozen days left until the Chinese New Year. They encountered heavy snow when they came, which delayed them by two or three days. It will probably take them about the same amount of time to get back. Headmaster Gu can't possibly keep them here for the New Year, can he?
The next morning, Minghua came to invite Meng Guanqi to see Headmaster Gu.
Meng Guanqi spent an entire night processing the information that he had failed the exam. By now, his expression was remarkably calm. After bowing to Headmaster Gu, Headmaster Gu smiled and asked, holding Meng Guanqi's exam paper, "How was it? Do you think you passed the test?"
Meng Guanqi shook his head, feeling ashamed, and said, "This student is not knowledgeable enough to pass this test."
Headmaster Gu asked, "Why do you lack confidence in yourself?"
Meng Guanqi said, "I have been studying with my father, and the servants in my family have been collecting exam papers from the academies in the capital. But I have never done a paper that I am so unsure about. I am not very satisfied with my answers, so I feel that I will definitely not pass this test."
Headmaster Gu smiled slightly and put down his paper: "I invited two teachers from the academy to grade the papers. One will pass and the other will fail. The decision is now back in my hands. Do you think I will pass or fail?"
"A gentleman actually passed the exam?" Meng Guanqi raised his head, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. His heart pounded, and a glimmer of hope appeared. But looking at Headmaster Gu's gentle and calm face, he felt his voice become hoarse: "This student does not know."
Headmaster Gu laughed and said, "Oh, you know perfectly well that I was in the same cohort as your father, so there's at least some connection between us. Why would you say you didn't know?"
Meng Guanqi said, “I have observed that the academy is located atop a deep mountain, with over a thousand steps and hundreds of examination rooms. The headmaster is dressed in thin clothes, his fingers red from the cold, and there is no fire pit for warmth in the rooms. This shows that the headmaster must be an extremely strict person. How could he change his mind just because I am the son of an old friend? Furthermore, Wanshan Academy has produced dozens of candidates for the imperial examinations and seven or eight candidates for the highest degree in the imperial examinations in just a few years. He certainly did not get in through connections…”
Headmaster Gu laughed heartily: "You child, you see things quite clearly..."
His smile faded: "By my standards, this paper definitely wouldn't pass..."
Hearing the expected answer, Meng Guanqi felt a sense of relief. Although she was still disappointed, at least she was mentally prepared and could accept it.
“However, after discussing with several gentlemen, I have decided to admit you,” said Dean Gu. “Prepare yourself and come to report before the fifteenth of the first lunar month. The academy will officially start classes on the sixteenth of the first lunar month.”
Meng Guanqi's eyes widened suddenly: "Headmaster, may I ask why?" He had already failed the exam, yet he was still admitted. Could it really be because of his father's connections?
Although Meng Guanqi longed for Wanshan Academy, he still could not accept this approach.
How will her classmates view her if she enrolls in school in this way?
Headmaster Gu said casually, "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that you took the exam paper for the provincial examination. Minghua took the wrong one. For an exam paper to be done like this, the gentlemen think it's quite good."
An eerie silence fell over the room.
Meng Guanqi's mind went blank for a moment before he realized that he was working on the imperial examination paper? The imperial examination?
No wonder he didn't do well on the exam, but even so, a scholar still selected him. Does this mean he has a good chance of passing the imperial examination in the future?
For a moment, he didn't know whether to be happy or angry. He had endured three days of torment, tossing and turning at night, unable to sleep, and had made so many mental preparations, only to be told that the wrong exam paper had been given to him and the questions were beyond the syllabus...
His face flushed red and then turned pale; he didn't know how to react.
Headmaster Gu couldn't help but laugh and said, "The road to becoming a Jinshi is always rugged and bumpy, and anything can happen. It's not necessarily a bad thing for you to experience the difficulty of the provincial examination first."
Meng Guanqi suddenly realized what he meant and bowed, saying, "Yes, I am enlightened."
Headmaster Gu handed him a small box: "This is my reply to your father. Please give it to him. Go down the mountain as soon as possible, and remember to report to the academy on time after the New Year."
Meng Guanqi bowed and agreed, then left the quiet room.
Li Xiaoxiao and Asheng had already packed their bags and were waiting for him outside. The three of them went out of the academy gate and walked down the steps.
Going down the mountain was much easier than going up, and the three of them were much faster. As a result, they encountered students carrying rice, flour and firewood up the mountain halfway up, panting and struggling to climb the ladder.
Each of them carried a sack of things on their shoulders, which looked to weigh at least forty or fifty pounds. When they saw the three of them coming down from the mountain, these students didn't even have the mood to stop and catch their breath. They gritted their teeth and continued to climb up the mountain with their loads on their backs.
Two or three strong and healthy servants followed at the back of the group, presumably to supervise and protect the students carrying the loads. They would call out to remind anyone who fell behind. One student collapsed from exhaustion, and one of them went up to check on him, took out a water bag from his waist, and gave the student a few sips of water. Before long, the student recovered and struggled to carry the sack up the hill again.
Ah Sheng was startled and asked, "Young Master, you're going to study here after the New Year. Does that mean you'll have to carry things up the mountain with us?" He glanced at his young master's thin frame and thought about how the three of them had climbed from the foot of the mountain to the top a few days ago. The young master hadn't carried anything, but he still needed Xiao Xiao's help to walk the last part. If he were to carry forty or fifty pounds of heavy objects, how could he possibly climb this mountain?
What should we do?
Meng Guanqi's expression was also not very good. He secretly decided that he would have to work on improving his physical fitness when he got back.
The group returned to the inn at the foot of the mountain and found Zhao Jian, who had been waiting for them. After checking out, they immediately set off back to Biyang County.
With less than two weeks until the Lunar New Year, everyone is eager to return home.
Unfortunately, the weather turned against them. Less than half a day after leaving the city of Luzhou, it started to rain and snow. The temperature plummeted, and the roads became muddy and difficult to travel.
The carriage had just reached a place with no village or shop in sight. To the left was dense forest, and to the right was a cliff. It was also an uphill road with no place to take shelter from the rain. Zhao Jian didn't dare let Li Xiaoxiao and Asheng drive. After traveling for a while in the rain and snow, the carriage got stuck in the mud and couldn't get out. Li Xiaoxiao, wearing a raincoat, came out to help push the carriage. With Li Xiaoxiao's strength, the carriage was quickly freed, but it got stuck again after less than half a cup of tea's time.
The rain intensified, and the raincoat quickly became leaky, the water dripping onto the skin and chilling to the bone. The horses pulling the carriage were panting heavily from the cold. Zhao Jian wiped the ice crystals from his face and said to Meng Guanqi inside the carriage, "Young Master, the horses are about to give out, and we can't keep the carriage. We need to find somewhere to take shelter from the rain quickly..."
Horses can freeze to death in this kind of weather.
Unfortunately, there were only two raincoats in the carriage, so Meng Guanqi and Asheng had to share an umbrella after getting off.
Meng Guanqi was still holding the bundle that Headmaster Gu had given to Magistrate Meng. Inside were letters, which couldn't get wet in the rain. He took out the letters, put them close to his body, and walked to the roadside with Asheng.
I had barely stood still and hadn't even started walking when my boots were already dirty and wet from the splashes of mud.
Li Xiaoxiao came over and offered her raincoat to Meng Guanqi, but Meng Guanqi glanced at her and said, "No need, you wear it. I'll share the umbrella with Asheng."
Even if she dressed as a man, she was still a woman. If the raincoat was given to him, she would have to squeeze in with Ah Sheng. But boys and girls should not sit together after the age of seven. Ah Sheng was already eleven years old, and he would be twelve next year. It would not be appropriate for him to share an umbrella with her.
Zhao Jian began to untie the horse.
The carriage was no longer needed; the only option was to take the horse as a mount.
After getting rid of the heavy carriage, the horse seemed to be in better condition. Zhao Jian led the horse ahead, walking forward with uneven steps.
The uphill road was very difficult to walk on. The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the rain mixed with ice chips began to gather into a river, gradually submerging the feet of several people. Every step they took was freezing cold.
After finally reaching the top of the slope and arriving at a dense forest, Meng Guanqi's face was deathly pale, and he was so cold that he had lost all feeling in his body.
The small oil-paper umbrella couldn't cover the two of them at all. Their clothes were completely soaked. Li Xiaoxiao had experienced the harsh weather of the apocalypse and knew that if they didn't find shelter from the wind soon, they would probably suffer from hypothermia.
Li Xiaoxiao called out to Meng Guanqi worriedly a few times: "Young Master? Young Master?"
Meng Guanqi was already frozen in shock. When he heard her call his name, he would only turn his head to look at her, but he didn't make a sound.
Li Xiaoxiao was shocked. She quickly stepped forward, snatched the umbrella from his hand, and handed it to Asheng. She took off her raincoat and draped it over him. She then lifted him up and put him on the horse's back. She jumped up, sat behind him, and took the reins from Zhao Jian.
The rain quickly soaked her to the bone. She shouted to Zhao Jian, "I'll take you ahead to find shelter from the rain. You take A-Jian and follow the direction of the horse's hooves. Remember, don't stop. No matter how difficult it is, keep going, or we'll all die of hypothermia!"
Zhao Jian shivered. He had learned martial arts at the escort agency since childhood and had naturally heard of the consequences of hypothermia.
Before he could react, Li Xiaoxiao immediately spurred her horse forward.
She had to find shelter from the rain, otherwise all of them might freeze to death on the road.
No one could have imagined that such heavy rain and snow would fall in the dead of winter, and they found themselves in a place with no village in front and no shop behind, unable to move forward or backward.
Li Xiaoxiao spurred her horse while carefully observing her surroundings, hoping to find a village and rush in for help. But after nearly half an hour, she hadn't seen a single house.
Meng Guanqi, who was sitting in front of her, seemed to be about to faint. She could only hold him tightly to prevent him from falling off the horse.
After running for nearly half an hour, she finally saw a corner of a roof emerging from the distant mountains and forests, which seemed to be a dilapidated temple.
Even a dilapidated temple is better than them getting soaked in the rain!
Li Xiaoxiao perked up and spurred her horse toward the dilapidated temple, shouting as she rode, "Young master, hang in there! We've found shelter from the rain!"
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