The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 357 Sense of Urgency

It was late at night, the autumn insects were chirping, and the third watch gong sounded from the street. Jia Huan was still writing rapidly under the lamp with full concentration, as if he had entered a mysterious state of ecstasy.

Mandarin was playing with the steel-wheeled double-barreled musket out of boredom. Suddenly, she raised the muzzle, aimed at a moth that kept hitting the lampshade, and pulled the trigger. However, there was no ammunition in the gun at this moment. All she could hear was the sound of the steel wheel inside, which was turned rapidly by the spring. Although the sound was not loud, it was particularly harsh in the quiet night.

Without even looking up, Jia Huan said, "If you're tired, go to sleep first. Be careful not to break the spring."

Mandarin shrugged and said, "It's not a big deal. I'll fix it for you if it breaks." Then she stretched. Her curvy body, only in pajamas, was even more curvy, which made people's heart beat faster and their blood vessels dilate. Unfortunately, that person didn't even raise his head, and was only focused on reading the books of sages.

In his previous life, Jia Huan was a top student and a top test taker. More than ten years of test-taking experience taught him a truth: talent is important, but the saying "God rewards hard work" is also true. You get what you pay for. Not everyone has a smart brain, but everyone can be diligent. Only those who are smart and hardworking can be successful in every exam.

Although his current writing level has been recognized by Lin Ruhai, Jia Huan still dare not take it lightly. After all, the difficulty of the provincial examination is hellish, even more difficult than the metropolitan examination and the palace examination, because its admission rate is extremely low, which is not comparable to the previous boy's examination at all.

In the provincial examinations of the Jin Dynasty, only about 1100 candidates were admitted each year, so on average, the number of candidates admitted in each province was less than 106. For example, in the Nanzhili region, nearly scholars participated in the provincial examinations last year, but only of them passed, which means that almost people competed for one spot.

Nanzhili was the economic and cultural center of Dajin, where the teaching staff and education level were the highest, and the level of candidates was naturally the best. It was no exaggeration to say that there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers here. In addition, the number of candidates was huge, far exceeding that of other provinces, but the number of juren vacancies allocated was not much more, which led to the most intense competition in the provincial examinations in Nanzhili over the years. Even the top scorers in the academy examinations of various prefectures failed in the provincial examinations.

As the saying goes, a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit. Jia Huan doesn't want to capsize in the gutter, so he is ready to go all out and take advantage of this special examination to clear the level in one fell swoop. After all, time is running out for him. He urgently needs to improve his social status and gain greater voice and initiative. Otherwise, not only does he not want to make choices, he won't even have the chance to make them.

In addition, Jia Huan increasingly felt that the development trajectory of the Jin Dynasty was gradually overlapping with that of the late Ming Dynasty. If the Jin Dynasty suddenly took a sharp turn from its heyday and fast-forwarded to the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty, it would be disastrous. As the saying goes, people are worse than dogs in chaotic times. If you want to survive in the chaotic era of the end of the law, strength is the only way.

So, Jia Huan now has a sense of urgency, and his desire for power is stronger than ever before. The most convenient and quickest way to gain power is naturally to pass the imperial examination and become an official.

Let's get back to the topic. Mandarin, the foreign maid, made some noise to attract Jia Huan's attention, but the latter didn't even raise his head. He felt a little discouraged, put down his double-barreled pistol, walked to the desk with his slender legs that matched the golden ratio, skillfully added some water to the inkstone, and then slowly began to grind the ink.

Mandarin was grinding ink while examining Jia Huan's article, but apart from thinking that the handwriting was particularly beautiful, she naturally couldn't understand anything. In the end, she could only look at Jia Huan's face.

It is said that the more you look at a beautiful woman under a lamp, the more charming she becomes. I guess the same is true for handsome men under a lamp. Jia Huan had sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, red lips and white teeth. In addition, he was calm, elegant, and gentle as jade. Mandalin blushed more and more as she looked at him, and her heart was pounding. She used too much force on her hand and almost knocked over the inkstone.

Jia Huan finally looked up and gave Mandarin a strange look. The latter blushed with embarrassment. Fortunately, Jia Huan didn't say anything and continued to write with his head down.

"Lord, please forgive me. I think I really fell in love with this little man from the Eastern country, but I am just a slave and can never be the mistress. He is so handsome and talented. There must be many women who like him, such as Miss Lin, the governor, and Miss Xue whom I met before. He will definitely have many women in the future. In his mind, I may always be just a slave and not even have a rank. Almighty Lord, please tell me what to do?" Mandarin's heart was in turmoil and her thoughts were full.

At the beginning, Mandarin was full of vigilance towards Jia Huan and even labeled him "greedy and cunning". After realizing that there was no hope of escape, she had no choice but to accept her fate. After all, serving a young and handsome man is always better than serving an old man.

However, as she got to know Jia Huan better, Mandalin suddenly realized that her understanding of this oriental boy was too superficial. This guy was "greedy and cunning" only towards his enemies, but he was very good to his friends and people around him, and could even be said to be kind. For example, when he rescued Miss Xue, he did not even give up a maid, and he was not as decisive and ruthless as he was towards his enemies.

In addition, the more Mandarin came into contact with Jia Huan, the more she felt that this young oriental boy was a treasure. He had all kinds of skills and was truly full of talent. He could actually speak British, and had some understanding of the customs and cultures of European countries and even all over the world. He was well-versed in astronomy and geography, and his knowledge was so broad that it was truly shocking.

Moreover, Jia Huan is multi-talented. He can sketch in Western style, play the flute and the Xiao, and even the violin. He can write lyrics and compose music, and even draw three-dimensional diagrams. It is simply amazing.

Sometimes, Mandarin felt like she was digging for treasure. The longer she interacted with Jia Huan, the more surprised she became. In the end, she even became numb to his endless abilities and knowledge. It was during this kind of interaction that she slowly let down her guard. She went from stranger to familiar, from surprise to appreciation, from appreciation to admiration, and from admiration to affection. Unknowingly, she fell into it step by step.

Until today, when she saw Jia Huan severely teaching Xue Pan a lesson for her, Mandarin finally couldn't hold back and expressed her feelings in the most direct way a Western woman could - she took the initiative to kiss Jia Huan on the cheek.

However, Jia Huan's indifferent reaction undoubtedly made Mandarin a little disappointed, so much so that she felt disillusioned now. You know, in her original country, she was also a proud noble.

At this moment, Jia Huan, who was concentrating on his studies, seemed to sense something. He raised his head again and looked at Mandarin, smiling and asking, "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep first? Why are you still standing here?"

"Oh my God, this guy looks so good when he smiles." Mandarin felt that she was hopeless, because when Jia Huan looked at her, she felt like she was bathing in the sun. How much she longed for his attention.

"Third Master, what are you writing?" Mandalin's voice was so gentle that even she felt shy.

Jia Huan was surprised and asked, "Is your throat uncomfortable? Why did you suddenly call me Third Master?"

Mandalin was both embarrassed and angry. She returned to her normal tone and even deliberately said in a hoarse voice, "I'm fine. I'm not feeling unwell. Sister Ping'er said that I can't call you Jia anymore. That's against the rules, isn't it?"

Jia Huan said, "We don't have so many rules here, but you can just follow the local customs. You can call me Third Master when there are people around, and call me Jia when there are no people around."

"Oh, then Jia, what have you been writing all night? It's time to go to bed. Sister Ping'er asked me to watch you go to bed early."

Jia Huan laughed in silence and said, "So Sister Ping'er has assigned you a task. Well, I'm almost done and will go to bed soon. Besides, I'm writing an eight-part essay, but I'm afraid you won't understand it even if I tell you."

Mandarin said unconvincedly, "If you don't tell me, how do you know I don't understand? I'm very good at learning languages. At least now I can basically communicate in your national language, right?"

Jia Huan looked at Mandarin's pretty face thoughtfully, nodded and said, "Your language ability is indeed very strong, how about I test you?"

Mandarin raised her chin proudly, as if to say, come on. Jia Huan then read out the eight-part essay he had just written, and the foreign maid was stunned, like a duck hearing thunder, with question marks all over her head.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Don't you understand?"

"Oh my God, what are you writing? Is this all you need for the imperial examination? What's the point? Can it select qualified talents?" Mandarin was full of confusion.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Of course, there are not only eight-legged essays, but also classics, policy essays, and poetry. Although the imperial examination system has its limitations, it has been used for nearly a thousand years and has successfully selected a large number of outstanding talents in governing the country. It can be seen that it is still effective. At least it is better than Europe today, isn't it?"

Mandarin was suddenly speechless. Indeed, most European countries are still using the monarchical system of granting titles, and the bureaucracy is completely monopolized by the aristocracy. Ordinary people have almost no chance of turning their lives around. In contrast, under the imperial examination system of the Jin Dynasty, at least ordinary people can change their destiny by taking exams.

"You go to sleep first, I'll fall asleep soon!" Jia Huan waved his hand and continued to concentrate on writing.

Mandalin was a little unconvinced, but she couldn't refute it, so she said, "You gave Xue Pan a good beating today, aren't you afraid that your aunt and Baojie will be angry?"

Jia Huan looked up and asked in surprise: "Mandalin, have you also learned gossip now?"

"What is gossip?"

"It's just meddling in other people's business, just like that gossipy old woman on the street."

Mandarin rolled her eyes at someone, then walked away angrily, lying on her bed with her head covered with the quilt and sulking.

Jia Huan couldn't help laughing. Although the foreign maid was tall, she was only an eighteen-year-old girl after all, one year younger than Ping'er. She would get angry if she was teased. However, her current lying posture was too tempting.

Mandarin's pear-shaped figure was already extremely attractive. Now that she was lying there, her melon-like hip line was simply indescribably beautiful. Her long and tight legs, slender waist and narrow shoulders exuded the breath of youth all over her body. It took a lot of effort for Jia to retract his gaze and continue his unfinished writing project.

Early the next morning, Jia Huan met Lu Xiangsheng at the agreed place, and then went to Yingtian Prefecture School together to sign up for the annual examination.

Under normal circumstances, scholars had to take an annual exam, which was equivalent to a regular test. Scholars who passed the annual exam were called Bingsheng, and the government provided certain subsidies. The next level was Zengsheng and Fusheng. If they failed the annual exam, or did not take the annual exam for three consecutive years, they would be deprived of their title of scholar.

Only the scholars who passed the annual examination, or the students who had just obtained the title of scholar through the academy examination this year, were eligible to participate in the provincial examination. However, the annual examination was not difficult and generally everyone could pass it. With the level of Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng, they naturally passed the annual examination easily and obtained the qualification to participate in the provincial examination.

On July 25th, the seventh year of Qiansheng, there were still ten days before the provincial examination on August 6th. Jia Huan had finally completed all the formalities and only had to wait for the exam to begin.

One day, Jia Huan came to the door of Xue's house carrying a bunch of fruits, tea and other things. He politely introduced his name and said, "Jia Huan is here to visit. Please let me know."

The servant in charge of guarding the gate knew that Jia Huan was a man of noble character as soon as he saw his demeanor. After the other party introduced himself as Jia Huan, his attitude immediately became more respectful, and he hurriedly reported to enter the second gate.

"Madam, the doorman just sent a message saying that there is a scholar visiting us outside, claiming to be Jia Huan, and he should be the Third Master Huan of my aunt's family. Would you like to invite him in?"

Aunt Xue was delighted when she heard this, but her face darkened immediately. After a slight hesitation, she ordered, "Bring him in."

After about a cup of tea, Jia Huan was led in. He saw that only Aunt Xue was in the hall, and Xue Baochai was not there. He felt a little disappointed, so he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Huan'er greets Aunt. How are you these days?"

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Okay, when did Huan'er arrive in Jinling?"

"I arrived on July 17th. I have been busy preparing for the Autumn Examination and only found time today to come and pay my respects to my aunt."

"Oh, I see. Is everything settled then?"

"It's done. We're just waiting for the exam to start."

"That's good. With Huan'er's talent, he will definitely be admitted to high school this time."

"Thank you, Auntie. Sister Bao is not at home today?"

Aunt Xue sighed and said, "He went out to check the accounts early in the morning. Bao was born to work hard. Who made her have such a useless brother? Not only can he not be relied on, but he also makes trouble outside all day long."

Jia Huan frowned secretly. It seemed that Aunt Xue had something else to say, and her attitude was obviously not as friendly as before. Could it be that Xue Pan had actually reported me for something bad?
However, since Jia Huan dared to take action to deal with Xue Pan, he was naturally not afraid of this guy reporting him, because he knew that Baochai was the most sensible person. As for Aunt Xue, she had always doted on Xue Pan, so it was normal for her to be angry. It was already a rare occasion that she could still receive him politely.

In other words, Jia Huan had expected Aunt Xue to be angry, but Xue Pan was such a disgusting fellow that he would rather have Aunt Xue get angry than not teach her a lesson. Otherwise, given her character, she would definitely continue to pester him, and Jia Huan didn't have the patience or time to deal with him.

(End of this chapter)