The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

The sun and moon revolve, and the sun and moon alternate.

In the blink of an eye, it's already April.

It was time for Jia Jue to step down.

If he passes this prefectural examination, he will be considered to have earned official rank and become a scholar.

Moreover, he is the youngest scholar in the Jia family at present.

Mr. Yin thought highly of him.

He said to Jia Zheng, "I originally thought that although your son would pass the county examination, his ranking wouldn't be very high. But I was pleasantly surprised when the results were announced. I later saw his exam papers, and they were quite good. I never imagined that he would improve so much in just a few months of studying. Passing the prefectural examination is almost a certainty for him."

It wasn't just Mr. Yin; because of Jia Jue's performance in the county examination, the Jia family's attitude towards him completely reversed.

Unlike her indifference during the previous county examination, the old lady instructed: "Make sure all your food, clothing, and daily necessities are prepared. Make sure you settle in your new place in advance. The skillful daughters-in-law in the household should hurry up and make some knee pads and cushions. Go and collect the fabric materials yourself."

The lady also gave Jia Jue some instructions, telling him not to push himself too hard, to take the exam seriously, and to prioritize his health.

And so, when the day came, Jia Jue finally left the Jia family mansion amidst the farewells of the entire household, heading to the examination hall.

At the exact hour of Mao (5-7 AM), when the sky was just beginning to lighten, Jia Jue was already standing at the gate of the mansion, waiting.

After a short wait, at 1:15 AM, the instructor and the guard came over to check personal information.

Jia Jue was naturally fine; those who vouched for him were all his father's guests, so there was nothing else going on.

The instructor glanced at his test paper, scrutinized him from head to toe two or three times, searched him, and then left.

Before leaving, he gave Jia Jue a meaningful look.

After a long while, everyone had finished their inspections.

Seeing that it was almost time for Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the examiner gave an order, and many children came up, each carrying a lantern, and led them to their seats one by one.

Jia Jue entered the cell and, as always, carefully inspected the cleanliness before sitting down to wait for his hair to be curled.

After receiving the exam papers, I carefully filled in my name and place of origin, and began to look at the questions on the exam paper:

Two passages from the Four Books—one from the Analects, which reads: "Wealth and honor obtained unjustly are to me like floating clouds."; and the other from the Doctrine of the Mean, which reads: "The world and the state can be governed equally, rank and emolument can be declined, and even a sharp blade can be trodden upon, but the Doctrine of the Mean cannot be attained."

There is also a poem entitled "Ode to Spring Rain Nourishing Seedlings", a five-character poem with six rhymes, limited to the "eleventh rhyme" of the Pingshui rhyme scheme.

Next, it's time for memorization, and the requirement is to recite a section from the "Sacred Edicts and Extensive Instructions".

This was not a difficult task for Jia Jue; he had already silently prepared his answer in his mind.

Just as he picked up his pen to write, the feeling he had when he took the county exam that day came back to him.

After a dizzying spin, my consciousness began to drift away again.

"Does this have to happen every time there's an exam?"

This was his last thought before his vision completely blurred.

When the sky cleared and his mind became clear, Jia Jue saw himself standing at the door of a thatched hut.

The thatched hut looked familiar, as if I had seen it somewhere before.

"You've arrived."

A voice came, gentle and calm.

Jia Jue didn't recognize it.

However, if others were present, they would surely be surprised, because the voice was about 80% similar to Jia Jue's.

It's just a bit lower in pitch.

At this time, Jia Jue was still young. If he grew up, his voice might change.

Jia Jue turned around and saw a young man walking towards him.

The man was handsome and ethereal, dressed in feathered robes and carrying a long sword on his back. His appearance seemed familiar.

"May I ask who you are...?"

Before Jia Jue could finish speaking, the man pointed at him, and Jia Jue immediately became unable to move, his consciousness becoming unsteady.

In his hazy state, he heard the newcomer whisper: "Strength without skill will ultimately lead to failure."

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of light appeared at Jia Jue's waist.

The jade pendant he had worn since falling into a coma transformed into a silver sword and landed in his hand.

"Practice what you've learned."

After speaking, Jia Jue's body involuntarily began to move.

Each move was like a sword dance, ethereal and endless, with graceful postures.

In a state of composure, each sword strike was faster than the last.

It possessed the graceful movement of a dragon soaring through the air, and the divine spirit of a fairy maiden from Mount Gusha. With a single strike, Pei Sheng was filled with admiration, and the Yue maiden was captivated. Its brilliance was unlike any sword of this world.

Du Fu once wrote a poem praising the unparalleled sword dance of Lady Gongsun, in which he wrote:

"The onlookers were as numerous as mountains, their faces filled with dejection; heaven and earth seemed to bow low for a long time."

"Like Yi shooting down nine suns, as swift as a group of emperors riding dragons in flight."

"It comes like thunder, then subsides with fury; it departs like the calm waters of a still river."

At this moment, using such poetry to praise Jia Jue's sword seems somewhat inadequate.

It is evident that the immortal's sword is the epitome of beauty, the epitome of speed, the epitome of stillness, the epitome of killing, and the epitome of defense.

Sword after sword thrusts out, sword after sword falls.

Time flows on and on.

When Jia Jue woke up again, he looked down and saw that the exam paper had been neatly completed, and the essay was even better than before.

At this moment, the image of the Feathered Immortal was no longer in his mind; only his moves remained, etched into his heart.

Jia Jue couldn't help but laugh at himself, "If every exam were like this, I'd probably be on a winning streak and achieve the highest honors in all three categories."

This is a good thing after all. Since other people who transmigrate have cheat codes, it's not surprising that Jia Jue can do the same.

Now, he can openly say, "I am skilled in both literature and martial arts."

It was getting late. Jia Jue prepared to hand in his paper.

He gently tugged at the small bell beside him, and two people immediately came over to annotate his name, neatly placing the exam paper into the special wooden box and taking away his writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. With that, Jia Jue could leave.

By the time Jia Jue emerged from the examination hall, the sun had already set.

Many people are now emerging from the exam hall. This is the first exam, and also the most important one, eliminating the largest number of candidates.

Jia Jue saw the servants of the Rongguo Mansion.

These were the two new girls Wang Xifeng had assigned to him. Jia Jue, with a somewhat wicked sense of humor, named them "Gentle Breeze" and "Bright Moon."

Qingfeng and Mingyue are naturally inferior to Zhijian and Lishu. They are not as clever or capable as the other two.

The two boys were simple-minded, single-minded, and honest.

Upon seeing Jia Jue, he immediately came up to him: "Second Master, you've finished the exam."

Jia Jue nodded and said to the two of them, "Let's go and rest somewhere else."

The two nodded and followed behind Jia Jue.

When they arrived at their resting place, there were no maids serving them.

If he were here with a sword and books, tea would have been prepared for him long ago, and a message would have been sent to the restaurant to prepare dishes to accompany his meal.

At this moment, the two of them stood there stiffly, like two statues, only doing what Jia Jue said.

Now Jia Jue finally understood why the two of them had never gained the favor of their masters and were often replaced after only a few days.