Chapter 57: Youtai's Decision

Before attending the academy, Su Lu could only gauge the difficulty of the county-level examination through the setbacks his father and clansmen suffered. After entering the academy, his understanding became much more direct—among the sixty classmates who had passed through multiple rounds of selection, at most only five or six could pass the county exam.

Yet his elder brother had actually ranked third in the county exam! Such ability was almost unimaginable; even in an academy teeming with brilliant students, he was a true luminary.

"Then is my brother sure to become a licentiate?" he quickly inquired.

"In theory, his chances are quite high," Su Youcai, who had failed the county exam for ten consecutive years, replied with a wry smile. "But I’ve heard the provincial exam at Xiaosanguan is notoriously corrupt. Sigh... I’ve never even taken the provincial exam, how could I know?"

"Don’t worry, Chun-ge will definitely pass!" His eldest uncle happened to step outside to relieve himself and, upon hearing this, boomed from the doorway, "There are ten slots in each subject at the county school—no matter how you count, Chun-ge will get one!"

"Then Uncle will become an old scholar," Su Lu joked. "Let’s see if those hundred-household heads will still dare to push us around."

"You really hold a grudge, don’t you?" his uncle laughed heartily, giving Su Lu’s back a firm slap. "They wouldn’t dare now anyway—I've got connections!"

By "connections," his uncle meant Captain Ma. Seizing the opportunity to act as an intermediary for Captain Ma, he’d maneuvered himself into becoming Ma’s trusted aide.

Of course, with an old fox like Captain Ma, who never makes a move without a clear benefit, it was useless to expect genuine promotion without offering substantial incentives.

Still, it was enough for Uncle to wield borrowed power, greatly improving his status among the hundred households.

Now, with Chun-ge passing the county exam with such distinction, their small Erlang Hundred Households post could hardly contain his uncle’s swelling pride…

~~

That night, the family held a grand banquet to welcome the clansmen who came to offer their congratulations; even several non-clan households sent their regards.

So many guests arrived that the house and courtyard could not seat them all. In the end, they had to set up tables right in the alley for a communal feast.

The family’s chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep suffered for it. After just surviving the New Year, those animals had thought they could finally enjoy some peace…

Naturally, such banquets never resulted in a loss, for all the guests brought monetary gifts.

Serving nine lavish dishes to delight their friends and family, they tallied up the accounts at the night’s end and found they’d made a net profit of one thousand three hundred copper coins.

"Our dearest friends and relatives are much more generous than at Lao San’s wedding," Aunt said cheerfully, stringing together the coins. She still begrudged the five taels of silver lost at her younger brother-in-law’s wedding.

"Of course," Uncle replied, sitting cross-legged by the fire pit, chewing betel leaves with the old man, and boasting, "Chun-ge brings honor to our clan—how could it compare to Lao San’s wedding?"

"Praise your son if you must, but don’t belittle mine," the old man retorted gruffly.

"Hehe, can’t I compliment my own brother?" Uncle grinned sheepishly, then mused, "In another two months, Chun-ge will pass the provincial exam, and we’ll throw another banquet. Surely our dear kin won’t be less generous next time?"

"They’ll give even more!" Aunt declared with excitement. "The county exam brings one price, but the provincial exam certainly raises the stakes. And if Chun-ge passes the academy exam and becomes a scholar—by then, no matter how much they give, I won’t even care!"

"Enough, don’t jinx Chun-ge’s luck with your babbling," the old man scolded, though he hadn’t left for his usual stroll, clearly in high spirits.

"It doesn’t matter—my son is a literary star descended to earth; nothing you say can affect his luck!" Aunt replied boisterously. Then, missing her son, she sighed, "Oh, I won’t sleep a wink tonight. Husband, is Chun-ge really not coming home?"

"No," Uncle replied, nodding. "Didn’t he say in his letter? The provincial exam is less than two months away. He’s staying at Lao San’s to prepare, rather than making a tiring journey back and forth."

~~

"This child, how long could it take to come home? Doesn’t he know his mother misses him?" Aunt complained.

"Silly woman, the Chishui River floods in the spring—do you want him to take a boat?" Uncle shot her a glance.

"Heavens, no! Traveling by water now is a death sentence," Aunt quickly shook her head.

"Chun-ge’s health is frail. If he traveled by land, it would exhaust him. Besides, the Miao bandits are still active this spring, and I’ve heard even the old chieftain has started causing trouble again…"

As mentioned before, Yongning Garrison had no academy of its own; the eligible boys had to travel to the nearest county, Hejiang, for their exams. The two places were far apart—a hundred li from Erlangtan to Hejiang’s county seat, with no official roads…

Back in the Hongwu Emperor’s day, the imperial road went straight north from Lincheng to Yibin, never passing through Hejiang. Over a century later, there was still no direct route. If you couldn’t take the river, you had no choice but to cross mountains and valleys.

"Then let him stay and study at his uncle’s. No need to come home," Aunt immediately agreed.

"But if he won’t come home, we can go see him," Uncle suggested, clearly also missing his son.

"Great, great! Let’s leave tomorrow!" Aunt’s eagerness was plain.

"Not so fast—let’s wait another half month," Uncle replied thoughtfully. "Lao San’s wife is due to give birth in March. We need someone from the family there when her time comes."

"Now that’s the right thing to say," the old man grunted. He might be the strictest with Lao San, but in truth, his youngest son was his darling.

A beloved son, spoiled in old age—there was nothing to be done.

"Fine," Aunt agreed, though somewhat reluctantly.

~~

In truth, Su Youcai had been present the whole time during the family’s conversation. Normally not much of a talker, tonight he was especially silent…

Stepping outside, he gazed up at the star-studded sky and breathed in the faint tang of wine-soaked night air before feeling less dejected.

When he returned to his room, Su Lu had just finished his day’s studies and was reciting the third model essay of the day.

Seeing his son’s diligence and hunger for knowledge, Su Youcai finally smiled in relief.

It was time to let go of the past and look to the next generation…

"Father, if you’re not content, just keep trying. There are plenty of old students in their fifties and sixties still taking the licentiate exam. You’re nowhere near that yet," Su Lu said after finishing his recitation, finally free to offer comfort.

"I’d just put it behind me, and now you’re stirring things up again," Su Youcai replied with a bitter smile. "I’ve never even passed the county exam; I’m too far behind. I’m done—I’ll never take another exam in this life."

"If it’s because of money, you needn’t worry. Stepmother is even more capable than I thought. With her share of the profits, there’s enough for both of us to keep studying," Su Lu replied.

"Money is part of it, but not the whole story," Su Youcai said, leaning against the headboard, his expression bleak. "The truth is, I’m outdated now…"

"What?" Su Lu, tidying his book box, turned to look at him. "How can a person be outdated? You’re not some object."

"Getting sassy now that you’ve entered the academy, eh?" Su Youcai glared at him, then sighed. "People can become obsolete too. Back in my day, the essays I learned were all in the ‘Tai Ge’ style promoted by the Three Yangs. The aim was to ‘praise imperial virtue, celebrate peace, write with dignified clarity, express proper emotions, and self-reflect with remorse.’"

"Now this style is condemned as a monstrous blight—criticized for being weak, tedious, and shallow, said to be even worse than the ‘Xi Kun’ style of the Song. I actually agree with this assessment. But in my youth, the whole officialdom considered the ‘Tai Ge’ style the orthodox way; you couldn’t get anywhere without it."

"But just as I contorted my nature and studied for ten years to take the exam, the literary trend changed overnight. The Seven Geniuses launched a revival, and the ‘Tai Ge’ style was utterly devalued—caught everyone off guard. The new trend spread here as well. That old dog, Magistrate Lu Zhaoye of Hejiang, himself a special graduate, was terrified of being seen as uncultured. To prove he was up to date, he stopped accepting any ‘Tai Ge’ essays, which ruined me…"

Su Lu listened in silence, sympathy on his face, though in his heart he was thinking: this was the third reason his father had given for not passing the county exam.

The first was that the old man had offended the magistrate, and he’d failed by association.

The second was that he’d been asked to compose poetry during the exam, which was seen as frivolous, so he was rejected.

Now comes a third reason… But it’s understandable—people always find reasons for failure. With all the times his father had failed, he could surely come up with several explanations.

Of course, he wouldn’t rub salt in his father’s wounds, but kept his mouth shut and listened quietly.

Who would have thought that the next moment, Su Youcai would drop a bombshell: "Oh, I’ve already resigned as clan teacher with the old clan leader."

"What?" Su Lu’s jaw dropped. "When did that happen?"

"Just tonight, over dinner. We went to the latrine together, and I told him to find someone better," Su Youcai said calmly. "Don’t worry, it wasn’t a rash decision—I’ve thought about it for a long time."

"Oh…" Su Lu closed his mouth. Whatever his father decided, it wasn’t for him to interfere. Still, he asked, "But why? Didn’t the clan do rather well in the exams this time?"

"That’s thanks to you and Su Dan’s exceptional talents, not to me. Anyone could have taught you two. But the other students failed, and that’s my responsibility," Su Youcai said dejectedly.

Su Lu understood his meaning. The academy’s entrance exam was certainly "beyond the syllabus," but most preparatory schools taught the opening-argument essay, and their students did fine—some even benefited.

At the time, no one blamed his father, but he himself felt uncomfortable. Later, the pressure of tuition fees left him no time to dwell on it.

The second blow came from the academy’s newly implemented "promotion by ranking" system, which prevented students from following the old practice of progressing steadily through the curriculum…

In Chun-ge’s time, being a little behind at first didn’t matter—you could catch up later.

Now, if you failed three exams, you were expelled on the spot—no time to improve.

If a student hadn’t learned opening-argument essays before admission, he was almost certain to be eliminated…

Su Youcai’s guilt was understandable; he’d lost his appetite and grown noticeably thinner. Su Lu had noticed, but he’d had no time to dwell on his father’s worries. Besides, men were made of iron; a little time should have been enough for him to recover.

He hadn’t expected his father’s "iron" to succumb to fatigue and break at last…

"In fact, it’s because the academy changed headmasters, leading to a drastic shift in philosophy—no one could have foreseen that. It’s not your fault," Su Lu said honestly.

"It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is that the clan school must start teaching opening-argument essays, or everyone will be shaved bald by year’s end," Su Youcai replied bitterly. "Since that’s the way things are, the teaching must follow the new path. As an outdated old relic, I ought to step aside."

ps. The content on the "eight-legged essay" style will only appear once. I’m putting it in the public version so everyone can read it for free—those interested can read it, those not can skip it. I won’t be accused of cheating anyone for money. Writing these daily routines is much harder than writing the main story… Besides, it’s only this detailed at the start, as it’s essential for the exams. Haven’t you noticed the pace has already picked up since the last chapter? The exciting story is just ahead!