Chapter 78 Examination
The administrator who had a sallow face was taken aback when he saw Su Li’s naive face. After a moment, he was back to normal and stared at Su Li unbelievably, “She, the lecturer?!”
Ning Qing immediately gave a sign to Su Li with her eyes. Then Su Li took out a brand-new jade token, which was engraved with the character “Su Li”. The jade token had special sculpture with the characters Qinghe Girls’ School on the below. It couldn’t be a fake one.
“You must be Su Li mentioned by the satrap!”
The administrator who had a sallow face suddenly understood it and then showed a meaningful expression. In the school, it had been widely spread that Su Li was the youngest lecturer in the history of the school. Many people were not convinced.
However, as a small administrator, he could do nothing about it. He took Su Li’s token and finished the procedure of Mei Ruohan’s entrance examination.
Mei Ruohan and Guo were left here. Ning Qing led Su Li across the teaching area and helped Su Li settle down in a temporary yard.
After they took a seat, Ning Qing finally said, “The satrap gave you the lectureship. So, there are no two ways about it and you can recommend Mei Ruohan. However, what you are going to teach… remains an issue.”
“So, is it the reason that I live in the temporary yard?” Su Li pointed to the words on the door.
Ning Qing secretly thought that Su Li was very careful and then nodded, “Your examination will begin tomorrow morning. Don’t lose my father’s face. At any rate, you should have outstanding performance in one aspect. I heard that you are really good at embroidery. You may show it tomorrow.”
Su Li slightly nodded, indicating that she understood.
“Then I will tell you the rules of the school. In fact, there are few rules for the lecturers, but…” Ning Qing pointed to the high wall far away and said, “Never go there!”
Su Li looked at the place where Ning Qing pointed and couldn’t help but ask, “What is that place?”
“It is the martial arts field!!” Ning Qing’s arch eyebrows slightly rose and she said, “The Qinghe Girls’ School isn’t the same as the small Muyang School. It occupies half of the western town. Do you think it only teaches poetry, girls’ ethics and needlework? Find out the details in the volume. It should be sent to you by specially-assigned person, but I give it to you in passing.”
Su Li took over a thick volume and nodded thankfully. She was totally unfamiliar with the place and the people and needed to figure out the distribution of the Qinghe Girls’ School. Ning Qing roughly explained it and then left enough needles and threads for Su Li’s practice before her departure. She showed extreme forbearance.
Mammy Li bustled around and made the bed. Although they would stay here for only one night, she wanted to make the miss as comfortable as possible.
Su Li opened the volume and watched quietly.
The Qinghe Girls’ School deserved the title of the first school of the Qinghe Province. It consisted of two divisions, the Girls’ School and the Boys’ School. In terms of major subjects, there were literature and martial arts. Those choosing the literature would hold office at the imperial court and were tested in brain. For those choosing the martial arts, their bones and talents were valued first. Sure enough, they also needed to learn the literature. Students who were versed in both the literature and martial arts would be trained by the school as focus and could enter into the special college.
The graduates of the College of Martial Arts would usually enter into organizations of violence of the imperial court or join the army. Some undistinguished students may be hired by families and become instructors or captains of guards.
At present, there were no big wars, but small wars were constant. The offspring of humbly families joining the army could be promoted faster. If they showed sufficient potential in the military strategy and tactics, they may even move up for three levels in a row and rapidly hold a higher position.
The reason why Ning Qing didn’t allow Su Li to go to the martial arts field was that many students practiced martial arts there. Although students of Girls’ College of Martial Arts were all girls, some of them were more skilled than boys. Swords had no mercy. If someone carelessly got hurt, it would be fatal.
Su Li had lunch after she roughly learned the distribution of the school, and then she gained some understanding of the class types of the Girls’ School.
Ning Yunzhi fulfilled her desire to become a lecturer and read rare books here. She certainly couldn’t waste too much time on teaching.
In the Muyang Girls’ School, there were only the literature, embroidery and girls’ ethics. However, there were a number of subjects in the Qinghe Girls’ School, including the literature, calligraphy, embroidery, girls’ ethics, lyre-playing, chess, painting, rites, medicine, cooking, etc.
It was well believed in the Qinghe Girls’ School that jack of all trades was a master of none. So, every year freshmen could only choose one subject to learn. When they mastered the first subject to certain extent, they were qualified for an examination; and when they passed the examination, they could choose another subject.
The method was similar to that of her husband in the previous life when he instructed her.
The lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting were definitely impossible. Her husband in the previous life instructed her a lot, and she had gained considerable experience in Jianghu. But her inner cultivation was limited. Moreover, she didn’t want to teach other people what her husband had instructed her.
Teaching literature would easily lead to parched mouth and scorched tongue. No!
Teaching calligraphy would easily cause troubles because of too much exposure of the handwriting. No!
Girls’ ethics was the same as literature. No!
Cooking was against her imminent plan. No!
Su Li repeatedly shook her head and her sight fell upon the last subject in the end. She couldn’t help but produce a forced smile. She never thought that she would eventually choose it.
The next morning, a manservant came to the temporary yard and waited for her. Su Li followed him to a spacious teaching room. She was measured by a dozen of eyes when she just came in.
At the same time, the discussion in the room also completely disappeared. The room became silent.
Su Li’s eyes swept the room and she saw there was a large circular platform in the center of the classroom with an area of more than one hundred square meters. The seats around the platform were totally occupied by men and women, old and young. They were more than twenty-five years old and wore garments of the Qinghe School in different colors.
Su Li roughly estimated that there were more than fifty people.
Ning Qing also sat there and was secretly left speechless. The entire Qinghe Girls’ College of Literature only had more than seventy lecturers and most of them came today! After all, there were only more than twenty lecturers coming when she came here.
Su Li’s age was indeed very attractive.
An old lady with grey hair was sitting in the middle. When she saw Su Li composedly walk to the middle of the platform, she couldn’t help but slightly nod. Only the courage could make the peers ashamed. After all, the old lady was a little girl who hadn’t known the worldly wisdom and only studied mechanically at fifteen.
“I am Su Li. I’m here to meet all the lecturers of the Qinghe Girls’ School!”
Su Li’ voice was clear and melodious, and it echoed in the room. There was admiration in many people’s eyes, but more people still doubted her and remained expressionless.
“Su Li, I am Wen Ruomin, the dean of the Qinghe Girls’ College of Literature. I will take charge of the examination of the branch subject. Do you have any desirable subject? If you have, you may tell us so as to leave out one procedure.”
Wen Ruomin’s voice was very amiable. She had been informed by Ning Qing that Su Li was good at both the literature and embroidery. But she still didn’t know whether Su Li was good enough to impart knowledge and cultivate people.
Su Li slightly nodded and said, “I choose the embroidery.”
Hearing the sentence, Ning Qing instantly felt relieved. Su Li knew herself and didn’t choose the literature. The attainment of the dean in the literature was unfathomable. It would be very difficult, if she had chosen the literature.
Still, it didn’t mean that the examination of embroidery was easy. There were at least three top embroidery artificers among the lecturers present. Their embroidery works could be sold at a sky-high price in an auction house.
Wen Ruomin was slightly disappointed after she heard what Su Li said, but she quickly pulled herself together and loudly said, “Is Feng Qingru here? You may set a question for Su Li.”
Feng Qingru?!
Su Li’s pupils narrowed. She turned around and saw a young woman wearing long dress in red as fire stand up. The woman looked elegant and beautiful, and a pair of slanted eyes added charm for her.
At the moment, Feng Qingru looked at Su Li, who also was a gifted embroidery artificer, showing some doubts and loudly said, “Su Li, since you are qualified to stand here and would like to test your embroidery skills, you must be a top embroidery artificer! Every top embroidery artificer has advanced embroidery skills of her own. You may show your advanced embroidery skills!”
When Feng Qingru finished her words, many embroidery artificers were surprised and couldn’t help but whisper.
The examination of an embroidery lecturer was far easier than what Feng Qingru had said. The advanced embroidery skills were too difficult to be mastered by all top embroidery artificers. Most of the senior embroidery artificers practiced very hard on embroidery skills and became top embroidery artificers through experience and proficiency.
But Feng Qingru became a top embroidery artificer at such a young age naturally because of advanced embroidery skills.
However, Su Li was too young. Even though she mastered advanced embroidery skills, she definitely couldn’t meet the standards of the examination. She couldn’t pass the examination nine times out of ten if she demonstrated them.
Su Li forced a smile after hearing that. In this life, she met her embroidery master, who had personally instructed her in embroidery skills. But they unintelligibly became rivals. The destiny after her rebirth was more than she could say.
“Qingru, don’t mess things up.” Wen Ruomin couldn’t help but reproach Feng Qingru with a sullen face. But she heard Su Li’s voice before she finished her words, “I accept Lecturer Feng’s examination!”
All of the lecturers including Ning Qing were astounded. There was even a hint of anxiety appearing on Ning Qing’s face. She remembered Su Li had demonstrated that her basic embroidery skills reached to the standard of a top embroidery artificer in the Muyang Girls’ School. How could she be provoked so easily and directly accept the examination?
Her father once said that Su Li was calm and sober. Ning Qing was extremely annoyed.
“You accept it?”
Wen Ruomin was also slightly unhappy. She thought Su Li was too haughty and wanted to give her a rough time this time. She said, “In that case, arrange the examination. Fetch an embroidery board!”
Then two manservants immediately came up. They put an embroidery board in front of Su Li and handed the needlework box.
Su Li threaded a needle with concentration. Feng Qingru’s tender warning in the previous life seemed to echo in her ears. Feng Qingru imparted the Dahan flower needling skill to her little by little.
At that time, Feng Qingru was thirty years old and had become the first embroidery artificer in the Qinghe Province.
At present, she would demonstrate the nearly perfect embroidery skill of Feng Qingru in the previous life to Feng Qingru in her twenties.
Thinking of these, Su Li began the first stitch, then the second, with her eyes looking clear and bright… Her stitch became faster and faster, and she clearly knew what she wanted to embroider.
The whole room was quiet for fear that something would affect Su Li’s embroidery. Seeing that Su Li’s stitch was so rapid, the embroidery artificers present couldn’t help but slightly shake heads. Advanced embroidery skills weren’t the same as the basic embroidery skills. Every stitch should be considered carefully. It couldn’t be remedied if anything went wrong, which was also the most obvious difficulty of the advanced embroidery skills. Su Li’s performance had violated the taboo.
Feng Qingru snorted coldly in her heart. Su Li was still a little girl as expected and had such a quick temper. How could the advanced embroidery skills be shown in that way? She originally thought that a rival had come to the school, but it turned out that Su Li was a good-for-nothing.
“Well?”
Suddenly, Feng Qingru’s pupils narrowed and she looked shocked. She saw that Su Li’s wrist shook, and the rhythm…
“Her hands shook. It is over.”
Many of the senior embroidery artificers, who didn’t see the meaning of that, felt pity for Su Li. They hadn’t seen that any of the advanced layout of the Dahan embroidery needed to shake the wrist. Su Li must make a mistake. If there was an advanced layout mistake, could it still proceed?
“All right. Stop it. Why bother?!”
A middle-aged woman impatiently shouted in the crowd. The voice was extremely harsh.
Su Li was suddenly interrupted and her fingers violently shook. The stitch immediately stabbed her fingertip and a drop of blood popped out. But she breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the stitch didn’t touch the unfinished part. The stitch was oblique because of the scream. If it had touched the unfinished part, it would have been a fatal mistake.
The middle-aged woman saw Su Li stab her fingertip and laughed in her heart. It was obvious that the little girl hadn’t enough experience. By virtue of seniority, she was going to rebuke Su Li. Suddenly, she heard a thundering voice.
“Wu Shuqin, what are you doing?!”
Wu Shuqin turned around in astonishment and instantly met Feng Qingru’s flaming eyes. She saw Feng Qingru, who seemed to tear her apart, was very angry. Wu Shuqin was completely dumbfounded.