Chapter 185 - 144: Plotting
Wei Ru set down her teacup, her expression severe as she looked at her personal handmaiden.
"My lady, you wrong me! I would never dare to accept benefits from others." The handmaiden immediately knelt, her head bowed, not daring to look at Wei Ru.
"That tea house is Xingqiu’s private property. Even as his mother, I cannot casually interfere in his affairs. The friends he makes, naturally, are people I can trust," Wei Ru said.
"That Steward Wang has been with the Bai Family for over a decade. To think he still doesn’t understand this simple principle."
The handmaiden was stunned to hear this. ’Does this mean her ladyship won’t interfere with the Young Master’s partnership with Fang Yue? Or the tea house?’
But she just didn’t understand.
If that was the case, why was her ladyship letting Steward Wang cause trouble at the tea house?
"How about this. In a few days, go and invite that Fang Yue here. I want to meet him myself."
Wei Ru, of course, wouldn’t explain herself to a servant. After speaking, she went to rest.
As for why she clearly valued Fang Yue yet allowed Steward Wang to act without stopping him, it was because she wanted to see what Fang Yue would do. This was her way of seeing for herself what kind of person her son valued so highly.
Of course, in reality, she had no intention of interfering, regardless of the outcome.
~~~~~~
In the blink of an eye, it was the next day.
At the Prefecture City training grounds, the second day of the Martial Examination assessment began.
This time, the subjects being tested were horsemanship and weaponry.
After these two subjects, the next day would be Military Strategy. Once all these categories were complete, only the final combat trials would remain.
"A..."
"B+..."
Although many people were participating, the assessment itself went by very quickly.
In a flash, Fang Yue’s scores for horsemanship and weaponry were announced.
As expected, he received an A in horsemanship. For weaponry, however, he only managed a B+.
With this, Fang Yue’s current scores were two A’s, one A+, and one B+.
All told, among the more than one thousand Martial Artists, he was actually ranked near the top, at around sixtieth place.
Seeing this, those who had bet on Fang Yue being eliminated were all naturally overjoyed.
"Looks like this kid was deliberately put here by the gambling houses to set a trap."
In the stands, those who had bet on Fang Yue’s elimination felt they could still make a small profit in silver this time.
"I have no idea how this guy got ranked ninth by the gambling houses. When it comes to the combat trials, I’m afraid plenty of people will want to challenge this so-called ’ninth-strongest’ expert who is unworthy of the title."
"Heh heh, he probably won’t even survive the first round of the combat trials. If he gets beaten to death in the arena, now that would be a real show."
The wealthy patrons in the stands chatted and laughed.
Clearly, in their eyes, someone like Fang Yue had become mere seasoning for this Prefecture Examination—something to watch for entertainment.
The ones who truly cared about winning or losing were, of course, the real gamblers outside.
’Fang Yue’s strength is surprisingly decent. With enough Talent to rank in the top one hundred, even if he doesn’t pass this time, he’ll surely pass next time, or the time after that.’
Such were the thoughts of Liu Chuanzhi. From his corner of the training grounds, he had been keeping a close eye on Fang Yue and had learned of his assessment scores almost immediately.
But this only made him even more jealous.
After all, in front of him, the old Fang Yue had been a true country bumpkin, a dirt-covered peasant.
When he made a mistake, Fang Yue was the one who got beaten.
Meanwhile, he had been high and mighty in the village. Among their peers, who didn’t bow their head, suck up, or try to curry favor with him?
But then everything changed. After Fang Yue set foot on the path of the Martial Dao, his status rose higher and higher. It had only been a few years, yet he had already passed the examination to become a Martial Scholar and was now participating in the Prefecture Examination.
And to make matters worse, his scores were actually good.
How could this not make him burn with resentful jealousy to the point of madness?
’Heh heh, but thankfully, you actually dared to speak with Miss Wen Lan. You deserve to die.’
Luckily, the fool didn’t know what was good for him and got himself involved with Wen Lan.
He happened to see it, so he went to his master, Xue Bing, and told him an exaggerated version of the story.
As expected, Xue Bing wasn’t going to let Fang Yue off. After learning that Fang Yue was participating in this Prefecture Examination, he immediately had someone find the manipulator behind the gambling dens.
He had them add a condition to the betting pool concerning Fang Yue: his death.
If Fang Yue could be killed on the spot, those who bet on him to lose would earn even more silver coins.
Therefore, for the sake of silver, there would likely be people specifically targeting Fang Yue during the combat trials.
「Meanwhile, in another corner of the training ground’s stands.」
Li Xiangjun stared dumbfounded at the familiar figure in the training grounds.
She truly never expected to see Fang Yue here.
In that case, Lian’Er really hadn’t been mistaken a few days ago; she had truly seen Fang Yue.
’To think that Fang Yue actually came to the Prefecture City to participate in the Prefecture Examination.’
As a famous musician in the city, Li Xiangjun naturally had many admirers. She was only here today because someone had invited her to accompany them; she couldn’t refuse.
"Xiangjun, who were you looking at just now? Did you spot your lover?" Beside Li Xiangjun, a young master, who looked both heroic and rather delicate, asked with a chuckle.
Hearing this, Li Xiangjun shook her head slightly. "Miss Qiqi, please don’t joke with me. I just saw an old acquaintance."
It was very obvious from Li Xiangjun’s words.
The young master sitting beside her was actually a woman in disguise. And not only was she disguised as a man, but she had also invited Li Xiangjun, the most popular courtesan in Shanyang Prefecture, to accompany her.