Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 594 - 593: Announcing the Results, Undoubtedly the Top Scholar

Chapter 594: Chapter 593: Announcing the Results, Undoubtedly the Top Scholar

"Young brother, is the person you mentioned the Governor of Bianjing?" Lord Chai Shao asked, "He doesn’t want such talent as yourself to be buried, so he recommended you to go to Chang’an to participate in the martial exam, and actually, I share the same sentiment."

"My encounter with your Lordship was nothing more than a fortunate meeting. To receive such high regard from you and the Lord, Ganglie dares not to accept." Tian Peng said as he lifted his cup towards Lord Chai Shao, "Lord, I toast to you."

Lord Chai Shao chuckled and clinked his cup with Tian Peng’s. He didn’t go into a lot of detail, merely giving a rough outline of his thoughts.

However, seeing Zhu Ganglie’s attitude, he believed that Zhu would gladly accept the Emperor’s assignment to the frontier when the time came.

Having inferred Tian Peng’s intentions, Lord Chai Shao felt extremely pleased. He drank several toasts with Tian Peng, musing to himself.

After attending the morning court the following day, he must speak to the Emperor about this matter. The Emperor would surely be delighted to know Zhu Ganglie’s intentions.

The meal thus concluded, and Tian Peng returned to his chamber.

Having been in Chang’an for quite some time, even though the martial exam was indeed rather dull, Tian Peng seemed to have found the pursuit he was looking for since arriving in the human world.

As for the path to ascend to immortality, he still had no idea how to proceed, but since any path would do, taking one he was willing to walk on did not seem excessive.

Soon the exam results were released, posted outside the Martial Exam Venue, but neither Tian Peng nor Chai Wei from the Lord Mansion headed out to check the results.

In previous years, not many flocked to see the results after the martial exam, as they were usually predetermined. Checking them was largely meaningless, but this year the crowd had swelled.

The main reason was the uncertain factor introduced by Tian Peng’s participation.

Tian Peng’s arrival had disrupted their carefully laid plans, and every young noble who took part in the exam wanted to see if they had been eliminated.

Almost all the young masters who participated went to check the results, except for the young master and Zhu Ganglie.

Tian Peng was packing his belongings. Although he didn’t have much luggage, he was soon to leave the Lord Mansion and needed to tidy up.

While he was packing, Chai Wei knocked on Tian Peng’s door.

That night after the meal, feeling something odd about his father’s words, he questioned Lord Chai Shao, only to have an unexpectedly thorny issue revealed.

He had wanted to seek out Tian Peng, but Lord Chai Shao stopped him, and Chai Wei had been forced to hold back for several days.

Now that the day of the results announcement had arrived, he couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer and came looking for Tian Peng early in the morning. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Zhu, what are you up to now? Can we talk?"

Tian Peng opened the door, "What is it, young master?"

"Today is the day the results are posted. Are you going to look at the placings?" Chai Wei didn’t get straight to the point but started with a casual topic to speak with Tian Peng.

In speaking, he was quite like Lord Chai Shao. One might say, like father, like son.

"I don’t think there’s anything worth seeing. As long as the examiners didn’t go easy, my performance should be self-evident, right? So there’s no need to look," Tian Peng replied, "But if you, young master, enjoy the excitement, I can accompany you to have a look if you wish."

"Whoever loves a spectacle can go clamor for it; I’ve got no interest," Chai Wei said, "However, what are you packing for? Where are you going?"

"I’m not going anywhere," Tian Peng clarified, "I will soon be presenting myself before the Emperor. I have imposed on the Lord Mansion for quite some time already. I can’t stay here indefinitely. Once I’ve been to the imperial presence tomorrow, I am preparing to leave. Until I find a place to stay, I’ll probably head to an inn."

"Why are you being so formal with me," Chai Wei said, "You are the Top Scholar; I might even need to curry favor with you in the future. If you leave now, where will I go to curry favor when the time comes?"

Tian Peng thought Chai Wei was joking with him and laughed, saying, "You’re flattering me now, but I can’t start flattering you soon enough. That’s why I need to avoid suspicion even more now, lest I haven’t flattered you yet, but others are already spreading rumors that I am. When I truly need to flatter you, I won’t have the face to do it."

"You, you..." Chai Wei also smiled.

He was no longer as surprised and melancholic about Tian Peng’s imminent departure, but he still had other matters on his mind, such as what Lord Chai Shao had told him.

The Emperor seemed intent on sending Tian Peng to the frontier, assigning a freshly appointed Top Scholar to a post there, which somewhat felt like a banishment.

No matter how hard Chai Wei tried to persuade him to stay, Tian Peng still left the Lord Mansion.

The day after the announcements, Tian Peng was to enter the Heavenly Palace, and he felt he really should avoid any appearance of impropriety.

After all, the first and second place winners coming from the same residence would certainly lead to gossip.

Upon leaving the mansion, Tian Peng looked at his coarse clothes and thought it was time for a change of attire.

After walking several streets, Tian Peng decided to buy some new clothes from a ready-to-wear shop.

He had already reached the entrance of the shop when he turned back, feeling it might not be necessary after all.

A few days ago, the Heavenly Palace had already taken his measurements, and he would have to wear their robes when he went there tomorrow. With this in mind, it indeed seemed unnecessary.

Tian Peng then doubled back and checked into a good-value inn.

On the following day, Tian Peng was awoken by a racket and startled by a beaming face as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Who are you? How did you get into my room?"

"Top Scholar, congratulations!" the man said with a big grin, trying to help Tian Peng up, but Tian Peng dodged away.

Even this little detail didn’t upset the man; he just kept smiling and brought over a garment.

"Top Scholar, you really are something, even sleeping longer than us ordinary folk—it’s past noon and you’re still asleep. In a moment, you’ll be meeting the Emperor, and you don’t seem a bit nervous."

Tian Peng then realized who these people were.

He hadn’t expected them to come wake him; Tian Peng was somewhat annoyed, but these men kept smiling warmly all the time. As the saying goes, "One does not slap a smiling face," so Tian Peng, however irritated, couldn’t show his anger and grudgingly got up.

"Don’t be like that, Top Scholar; how can we let you dress yourself? Let us do it for you," one of them said.

Tian Peng had taken the clothes to put on, but these people snatched them away, seemingly keen on dressing him for some reason.

"No need, I’m used to dressing myself; no help needed."

"Let us dress you so we can also bask in your good fortune," the leading man said. "Top Scholar, there’s no need to be shy; we’re used to doing this sort of thing, and we’ll make sure your clothes fit perfectly."

Even though he said so, Tian Peng still wasn’t comfortable with being waited on while dressing.

Even in the Immortal Realm, he had dressed himself; it had been that way for tens of thousands of years, and he had never needed help from anyone else.

"What, can’t I dress myself now? Are you going to eat and sleep for me as well?" Tian Peng said with annoyance.

"Top Scholar, you jest," they replied.