Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1353 - 1305: What a Good Master Should Do

Ultimately, the political examination involves essay arguments, and the subjective factors of the examiners are much stronger than with arithmetic examinations, so it’s impossible to finish grading quickly. Therefore, Jia Xu and others have been brought in to help with the grading.

No matter how you look at it, this group is composed of the Sages whose experience and abilities stand at the peak of the nation’s civil officials, so the essay grading for the political examination goes quite fast.

"Wang Yi and Cai Zhenji are indeed very formidable; they made no mistakes in the legal examination, whereas other women made three to five errors to varying degrees. As for the scholars, apart from Boyan and Zijia, only Zhang Derong passed completely, although other excellent candidates still made a few mistakes," Lub Su said with a wry smile.

"Being able to finish so many tricky questions in such a short time is already quite a feat," Chen Xi said grumpily, remarking that for Lul Xun and Lu Yu to score perfectly without having seen the questions before or practiced them must surely owe largely to their photographic memory.

Li Youu lifted his head and frowned at Chen Xi, "You’re implying my questions are too difficult? Should we start subtracting points for even one mistake on the legal examination?"

Chen Xi was speechless; questioning whether you’d end up with negative scores if you started deducting points, leaving scholars no chance to survive—the typical harshness of Li Youu.

"Forget it, let’s take a break. Most of these scripts are essays that should be discarded," Jia Xu said, feeling slightly tired, "Does anyone have a fifteen or sixteen, sixteen or seventeen-year-old woman in their family who is beautiful, well-versed in etiquette, sensible, and takes care of people to introduce?"

"..." Li Youu turned his head with a strange look at Jia Xu, "Are you looking for a wife for your son? But Suzhi did perform quite well; I wasn’t aware he had this much talent."

Li Youu said, while taking out Jia Mu’s script from the side; he only made one mistake in the legal examination, completed the essay argument in the political examination, and although his answers somewhat leaned off course, overall, they’re considered top-tier among the thousand exam takers.

Everyone passed around the script of Jia Xu’s eldest son, and although it’s not extremely outstanding as a scholar, it’s definitely more than enough to be a county magistrate, so they all laughed and congratulated Jia Xu for having a good son.

To be fair, saying Li Youu didn’t know what level Jia Mu was at would be a joke, but Jia Xu has always been the type who prioritizes self-preservation and self-interest foremost, making it impossible for Jia Mu to showcase any talent.

Honestly, Jia Mu staying behind closed doors repairing vehicles for eighteen or nineteen years without going through any real-world practice but still achieving this level is already astonishing for Li Youu, wanting better would definitely be wishful thinking.

"Wen He, your son really should be well nurtured, having such talent, it’d be a waste to leave it unutilized," Xun Yue said with a smile, noting that although the script was quite idealistic, the fact it’s written by a young boy without practical experience proves his talent.

"I plan to send him to Yuzhou as a county magistrate," Jia Xu said expressionlessly, "None of you have any sixteen or seventeen-year-old nieces or cousins?"

"There are many in my house." The calm Xun Yue, from a grand Aristocratic family, replied, thinking that forming a familial connection with Jia Xu would be an excellent marriage alliance.

"Why did you suddenly think of arranging a marriage for Suzhi?" Li Youu asked, changing the topic.

"No, don’t worry about Suzhi; it’s about arranging a marriage for Zijia," Jia Xu said expressionlessly, confident in Xun family’s women, well-versed in etiquette, sensible, and understanding care, and indifferent to allying with an aristocratic family, as Lu Yu is naturally capable of handling such matters.

"Zijia is thirteen, indeed, it’s time for engagement," Xun Yue continued promoting his own family’s daughters, not bothered by Li Youu, moreover, this isn’t about Jia Xu’s son, but about his closed-door disciple. It’s hardly any different, and quite advantageous.

"Uh, isn’t Duke Yana Fang’s daughter following Zijia?" Chen Xi asked, confused.

"Hey." Jia Xu laughed, suggesting that Wang Lii, that little girl, understands nothing; when Lu Yu had no playmates back then, she was naturally a good friend—the pure friendship of a grade-schooler—but when Lu Yu truly showed potential, Wang Lii still understood nothing.

"Did you hear me mention caring?" Jia Xu sneered, "That girl is still young, doesn’t understand Zijia’s current situation; Lu Zijia is envious of your disciple, you know what I mean, compared with Mi Zhen, Wang Lii understands nothing now."

"..." Chen Xi looked bewildered, seeming to realize there’s some truth in that; Wang Lii probably still considers Lu Yu a playmate, mainly because she’s younger than Lu Yu, and with the head of the Lu Family being Lu Yu, there’s no one teaching Wang Lii.

No matter how Mi Zhen messes with Lul Xun, there’s one point: when Lul Xun truly understands his mistake, Mi Zhen soothingly comforts him. Maybe this kind of sisterly figure is the real reason Lu Yu is hurt.

Jia Xu is a master at manipulating people’s hearts. Though Lu Yu is a sly one, just a slight investigation reveals that Lu Yu was hurt on the first day and went to watch the fun the next morning; it’s certainly not the words of Lul Xun causing the hurt, it must be their actions.

Lu Yu clearly wants someone capable of standing beside him and caring and soothing him like a sister, not someone just a playmate; a younger sister can act cute, but a big sister understands how to comfort and heal heart and spirit wounds!

Chen Xi nodded at Jia Xu, seeming to acknowledge from Lu Yu’s perspective, Chen Lan playing the role of the sister who continuously cared for him.

"How about you marry your daughter to Zijia?" Li Youu said reluctantly, "Isn’t Yuan’er just fine? Though she isn’t very beautiful, caring for a Lu Zijia is quite simple, and she is so smart, having numerous topics in common with Zijia."

"My daughter won’t be a concubine." Jia Xu said coolly, feeling the pressure; previously, it was because Lu Yu was hurt by Lul Xun and Mi Zhen that he planned to find Lu Yu a peer as the principal wife, but after checking back, he found Lu Yu was already engaged.

This doesn’t mean that Jia Xu doesn’t care about Lu Yu’s life, rather Wang Lii is too young and seldom leaves home, so Jia Xu had no idea it happened, and Lu Yu wouldn’t mention if he had a betrothal unless Jia Xu asked directly.

Thus, a bit of reflection lets Jia Xu see why Lu Yu was impacted—turns out the blow wasn’t from Lul Xun, but from Mi Zhen.

To really consider Lu Yu’s formal engagement, even as a mentor, Jia Xu wouldn’t act as casually as seeking opinions from those present without even notifying Lu Yu casually; ultimately, he merely sought for a sister figure for Lu Yu who understands care.

As for whether this sister would become Lu Yu’s concubine later or merely remain akin to Mi Zhen’s current status of doing nothing but understanding how to comfort Lu Yu—it’s up in the air, but at least it would stop him from envying Lul Xun.