Chapter 127: Just Wait
Liu Sheng could only repeat what Fang Yuanzheng had told her.
This time, both of them were thoroughly enraged.
Ling Xiaoshu didn't quite understand, but she knew Liu Sheng had been in a bad mood yesterday, so she joined in the indignant outrage.
"Isn't this bullying? Sheng Sheng Jie prepared so much for this, and they just say no?" Cui Cui pouted, her little mouth puffed out.
Wen Weilan shook her head: "It seems I was right before; someone doesn't want you to advance."
"Ling Shangshu's people?" Liu Sheng recalled Wen Weilan's previous analysis.
"Probably. That's why they forcibly inserted someone."
"Moreover, are there really not enough spots? Since it's a recommendation system, and it's a recommendation from the Imperial Censor, where couldn't a spot come from?"
"Of course, it's also possible that too many people from above are stuffing people into the Honghu Plan, taking up all the spots." Wen Weilan shook her head and sighed.
Although Old Mr. Wen ultimately did such a heinous thing to Wen Weilan, he had also personally guided her since childhood. Through immersion, Wen Weilan understood these intricacies at a glance.
"In short, I'm out of luck," Liu Sheng concluded.
"Yes, so it's fine if you don't participate in the Honghu Plan," Wen Weilan nodded.
"Although participating in the Honghu Plan basically guarantees entry into the National Academy, it's said there's still an assessment, and there's a lot of room for human manipulation. If you participated, you could still be artificially removed, making it a wasted trip."
"It's better to go for the Examination; at least it's a blind grading system, and everyone has an equal opportunity. No one would dare to interfere there; this is the Son of Heaven's selection of scholars, and interference is a major taboo."
Liu Sheng also agreed with Wen Weilan's words, which was why she chose to accept Fang Yuanzheng's arrangement.
Though she accepted, she didn't fully accept.
At least Fang Yuanzheng's hope of keeping her in Qinghe to serve did not materialize.
It was also because he harbored this thought that he earnestly introduced Liu Sheng to the various high-ranking officials in the Yamen, acting as if he intended to heavily promote and cultivate her.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have long since followed Fang Yuanzheng gratefully to get to know the officials better.
But Liu Sheng didn't want to.
"However, if you ask me, why did you borrow these books?"
"What's wrong? My colleague lent them to me." Liu Sheng was puzzled.
Wen Weilan suddenly seemed a bit annoyed: "I also have books, why didn't you ask me to borrow them?"
"And look at his notes, they're messy and disorganized. In many places, you can tell from the handwriting that this person fell asleep. Look, he even drew little turtles on the atlas."
As Wen Weilan spoke, she became more anxious: "No, no! You don't mean to rely on just these books to pass the Examination, do you?"
"Is that not allowed? I've studied some… and prepared for it…" Liu Sheng stammered.
"But that was two years ago, wasn't it? I don't believe you'd still be looking at these things after getting into the Weaving Institute."
Wen Weilan said, exasperated: "I know you're smart, but the Examination is different. It's not something you can handle just by being smart; there are techniques!"
"And you're from the Tiangong Department; you haven't really studied the Curriculum Assessment, have you?"
"The Examination is divided into the Curriculum Assessment and the Policy Test. The first tests general knowledge of the Curriculum Assessment, the second tests proposing policies, and then there's the Martial Test."
"There are techniques everywhere here, and you also need to estimate questions by analyzing the trends of recent years. Now there's less than a month left; how can you pass by just reading books?"
"It sounds so difficult," Ling Xiaoshu said, dizzy from listening.
"Of course it's difficult, otherwise, with so many people applying every year, how would they filter them? You should know that out of thousands of candidates each year, only dozens can enter the National Academy. In some stricter years, there were even fewer than ten."
Liu Sheng felt a bit anxious after Wen Weilan's explanation.
"Then what should I do? Will I have to wait until next year?"
"If you want to be more stable, then of course it's next year, but there's no harm in trying this year," Wen Weilan shook her head and said, "How about this, I'll introduce you to someone. You can go learn from her during this time."
"You're not talking about your master, Nangong, are you?" Liu Sheng thought of her Dongxuan Realm master.
"Of course not." Wen Weilan's expression was a bit dim.
Although she was called her master, it was only a relationship forcibly established by Old Mr. Wen, so their interactions as master and disciple were not very close.
However, whenever her younger brother, Wen Xuanning, went to see Master Nangong, Master Nangong was surprisingly warm, like a compassionate father.
Now that she had lost her cultivation, they would certainly not acknowledge her.
Wen Weilan composed herself and continued speaking.
"I'm talking about my Senior Sister, Nangong Wan, the Zhuangyuan of Hongjia's fifth year."
...
Song Ru paced anxiously in the entrance hall, constantly looking up at the door.
It was almost You Shi, why hadn't "She Chan" arrived yet?
She had clearly given her the address; could she not find it?
It was also possible that when her parents bought her a house in Qinghe, they were greedy for convenience and bought one in an alley, which was indeed difficult to find.
So, she just had to wait.
Just wait.
As she thought, she nervously bit her nails, her ten fingernails bitten raw and bloody.
Perhaps she should go out and wait, to guide "She Chan."
But she didn't dare to leave.
That strong premonition was coming again.
Whenever this happened, she knew she couldn't leave the house for even half a step.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to find...
Just then, she suddenly felt something.
It appeared!
Song Ru's face was deathly pale, without a trace of color, and she couldn't help but bite her lower lip, drawing deep cuts.
But where was it?
She looked around frantically.
There was no hiding place in the entrance hall, but she still looked under the bench.
She ran through the hall door into the courtyard.
She spun a few times, everything around her seemed to be spinning, making her dizzy.
"Where exactly is it?"
"Where are you?"
Song Ru slashed at the bushes with her sword, but the bushes were already cut to shreds; there was nowhere to hide...
She searched room by room, checking under beds, under tables, and inside cabinets, one by one.
Why wasn't it there?
Had her feeling been wrong?
But she clearly felt it!
It had already appeared!
That venomous gaze followed her like a shadow, hooking directly onto her back, seemingly wanting to pierce her flesh and pull out her internal organs.
She ran, but kept circling in the courtyard, instinctively avoiding the backyard.
Just as she was about to go mad, she heard some subtle movement from the last room at the end of the corridor.
At this moment, she somewhat resented her parents for buying her such a large house; there were simply too many rooms, she couldn't even keep track of them all.
She tiptoed over.
Opening the door, the room smelled of dust from being untouched for a long time.
The bed curtains hung down, gently swaying.
Song Ru, holding her long sword, crept closer.
Then, standing outside the bed curtain, she thrust her sword down.
The long sword pierced through the cloth curtain, passing through it, but there was no sensation of piercing flesh as she had expected.
Song Ru used her sword to pull open the bed curtain; there was nothing on the bed.
She cast her gaze towards the cabinet in the corner of the room.
"Hmph, hiding in the cabinet?"
Just as she was about to walk over, her foot was suddenly grabbed.
Song Ru looked down; a hand stretched out from under the bed, gripping her foot tightly.
Then a head emerged, looking up and facing her.
Song Ru saw an evil smile spread across the face that was identical to her own.