Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1347: Chapter 1299: Retribution Comes Quickly

”Truly terrifying!” Lub Su chuckled, staring at Cai Zhaoji’s test paper—untainted by a single amendment or ink blot. Since receiving it yesterday, he had attempted it multiple times, yet could not solve the problem.

Given that the Political Office staff personally reviewed the numerology paper without anonymizing the authors, Cai Yan’s perfect score was genuinely unsettling to them.

”Should we recruit her as an official? Such talent, wasted at home, is truly a loss.” At this point, Xun Yue abandoned any ideology that women were unsuited for official positions. He himself was baffled by the problem, while Cai Yan sailed through it with ease.

”It’s not that we don’t want her as an official; she simply doesn’t wish to be one. She prefers staying at home to read, or managing books at the Library Pavilion,” Li Youu said with a bitter smile. Though he’d been Cai Yan’s uncle for years and cared for her, he was truly astonished by her prowess for the first time.

”There’s nothing we can do, especially since she declined and we can’t persuade her.” Mann Chong’s face twisted as he viewed Cai Yan’s solving process, which was beyond his comprehension due to his lack of prime number concept. In fact, none present could understand it without a grasp of prime numbers.

”Cursed to be born a woman; if a man, she’d be ennobled or made a minister.” Lub Su said with a bitter smile. ”Since that’s the case, let’s appoint Zhao Junqing as Chief Secretary.”

”I’ll discuss with her; wasting her talent indeed seems regrettable,” Li Youu said with a bitter smile. Numerology itself doesn’t equate to excelling in official duties, but it enhances meticulousness, which over ninety-nine percent of people under heaven lack!

At this moment, Yins Su felt bewildered; his anticipated top spot had slipped away. However, he admired the three who completed the fifth question, acknowledging his honesty in the examination hall—knowing when to concede defeat.

[It’s unfortunate that Cai Yan’s line only has her remaining, or marrying her as a proper match would be fitting. Sadly, with only Great Scholar Cai remaining of the Cai Family, prospective merge seems inevitable.] Yins Su thought with a bitter smile.

Countless scholars across the land had similar notions, but they all extinguished such thoughts due to the matter of marrying in. Though Cai Zhaoji was both talented and beautiful, the position of a son-in-law was truly akin to servitude—the lowest rank imaginable under heaven.

This also was why, despite aristocratic families’ interest, Cai Yan’s refusal to marry outside left the families under heaven with no alternative; the issue of recruiting a son-in-law left aristocratic families torn—whether to sacrifice collateral kin for such a pursuit.

Next came the forty-point scorers.

”Fifth place—Mi Zhen.”

From this point onward, fourteen others scored forty, including Zhen Mi, Wu Yuan, Wang Yi, Xu Ning, Fan Jian, Jia Yun, and Li Yuan.

Unfortunately, Lul Xun didn’t score forty, nor did Lu Yu. Excitedly overwhelmed, one focused exclusively on his fiancée, while the other stared incredulously at someone else.

Moreover, with over twenty scoring perfectly on the first four major questions, Chen Xi, Li Youu, and others became stricter, deducting for minor inaccuracies; thus, Lul Xun and Lu Yu—whose papers were reviewed by their respective teachers—suffered unlucky deductions.

”Regarding Zijia’s paper, although he didn’t solve the last question, giving forty points suggests his previous answers were exemplary. There’s an issue—deduct!” Jia Xu said impassively while reviewing.

”Boyan seems elated; though he wrote nothing for the last question, he’s still so happy—clearly needs some discipline—deduct!” Chen Xi grinned wickedly while grading.

Naturally, in such circumstances, missing aesthetic standards or lacking in appearance led to a three-point deduction; slight inaccuracies also led to point deductions, resulting in two unfortunate candidates scoring just 36 while others scored perfectly...

Whereas Fan Jian’s paper was reviewed by Li Youu. As Chen Xi’s wife, Li Youu considered, loosened his grip, and as the answer was correct and process flawless, allowed it to pass, earning Fan Jian a perfect score.

Thus, amongst those women, the true perfect scorers of the first four questions were Mi Zhen, Zhen Mi, Wu Yuan, Wang Yi, Xu Ning, as well as Li Yuan and Jia Yun.

In this light, if not for the extreme difficulty of the last question, only those far above par could answer it; otherwise, reaching the top as a numerology woman wasn’t easy, not like now where all were silenced, unable to rebut—left only admiring in silence.

Simply put, if this numerology exam were a test and the fifth question not difficult, the result would be a dozen perfect papers. If Cai Yan or any other woman topped, rumors would sprout everywhere.

But now, although unexpectedly another Zhao Shuang appeared, none can legitimately defame Cai Yan’s top spot.

If the question were easy, then one scoring 100 points meant having 100-point ability; if I scored 100 points, the paper allowed me only to showcase 100-point capacity, our explicit combat power was 500!

”Sister Zhaoji is terrifying...” Wang Yi chuckled, having abandoned her ambition for the top spot, yet Cai Yan could possibly dominate. Indeed, those who quietly astound the world with their talents, while seeming to act naturally, are described accurately—such as Cai Yan.

”More than terrifying...” At this moment, Xu Ning, accompanied by Huang Yueying, found herself amongst similar women at the table, without hesitation. ”I can’t fathom the question; how did she solve it?”

Wu Yuan had lost her ability to retort, astounded by the situation. She initially considered herself formidable but now realized she really was viewing the sky from a well. Truly, only upon coming to the Central Plains did she comprehend fear—such a difficult question achieved perfect score.

”I think we should seek Sister Cai’s guidance; she will teach us. Generally, if we wish to learn anything, she teaches willingly and rarely repeats herself,” Li Yuan said with a bitter smile, realizing how casual Cai Yan’s lectures were.

”Ah, I don’t want to participate in the political section this afternoon; who will attend?” Jia Yun said helplessly. Initially hoping for good results to prove herself to her father, she decided to abandon that thought, as it seemed akin to accompanying the Crown Prince’s studies.

”Let’s all take the exam together.” Zhen Mi, with clenched fists, said resolutely, ”We won’t focus on Sister Cai’s scores; after all, she’s like half our teacher. She’s probably attending for fun among us...”

As she spoke, Zhen Mi’s previously fired-up resolve deflated slightly, puzzled by the situation. Though Cai Yan allowed them to call her sister, Cai Yan was clearly a teacher; attending in competition felt unfair!