Chapter 144 You Deserve Not to Pass the Exams

May the twenty-fifth was a day of pleasant weather and bright sunshine. On the official highway south of the county seat, people walked in small groups of three or five, noticeably more numerous than usual.

Wang Ge happened to meet two other female candidate artisans from Buzhi Township along the way, and they decided to travel together. One of them was surnamed Nie and was seventeen years old; the other was surnamed Yin and was fourteen. From their conversation, it was clear that the two lived very close to each other in their home village and had known each other for a long time.

They had not gone far when Huan Zhen, Wang Tian, and their entourage passed by from behind. Upon seeing her, they unloaded the baggage from their donkey and lent the animal to her for use.

This donkey had previously been temporarily raised at her home for a period and was exceptionally docile. Wang Ge carried her empty frame on her back while letting the donkey pack her bedding, allowing her to travel unburdened—how joyous and carefree that was! With a smiling face, she gazed ahead for a moment, then looked at the donkey's bobbing and nodding head, wanting nothing more than to shout out loud: I am going home, I am finally going home!

She also finally understood why Xie Ju's rules for the examination items previously explained had deviated from the actual rules. What Xie Ju had described was not entirely wrong; it was simply that each rule belonged to the content originally established when the quasi-master craftsman examination was first formulated, but the chief examiner had the authority to make slight modifications each year.

For instance, the third examination item, "Making Rules," still assessed an artisan's mastery of craftsmanship without relying on measuring tools, but instead of making wooden *gu* as Xie Ju had said, it involved drawing a circle freehand, competing in pairs. Since the examinations varied every year, the ones that got passed down were naturally those that were repeated the most.

County Magistrate Huan had told her all of this. Seeing the magistrate at close range once again, Wang Ge felt... rather uneasy. Magistrate Huan looked to be under thirty, but upon seeing him this time, she discovered that he had actually grown white hairs, and the vertical crease between his eyebrows looked as though it had been branded into his skin—even when he smiled, those three lines did not smooth out. Even for a grand competition like this, he came in a hurry and left in a hurried manner, which showed just how busy he was and indicated that the matters he was occupied with were far more important than the competition.

Combined with the fact that she had spent several days weaving grass baskets in the official workshop a few days ago and had signed a confidentiality agreement once more... no artisan was permitted to leak any news about the manufacture of the implements, under penalty of having their artisan rank revoked and facing legal punishment.

Therefore, somewhere a war was undoubtedly being fought, and moreover, the military situation was urgent, the supply lines were long, and there was a constant need to supply weapons and massive amounts of logistical supplies.

Regarding warfare, Wang Ge, who came from a modern society but had focused solely on weaving and carving for many years, could only think of this much. Magistrate Huan had summoned her to the county office for no other reason than to inquire about the manufacturing process of the barbed caltrops; he needed to write the complete sequence of events into an official document to be dispatched to the commandery office. Finally, he congratulated her on being accepted as a top-tier quasi-master craftsman, and stated: "Any artisan who wins against the township militia by means of their craft in the grand competition shall have their household status upgraded from free-holding commoner to artisan household in advance; top-tier quasi-master craftsmen shall receive the same reward."

In other words, regardless of which of these two conditions Wang Ge completed, even if she failed to pass the master craftsman examination this coming October, her family's corvée labor service would be remitted, and their grain rent would be reduced by an additional ten percent, enjoying the same tax-reduction treatment as true master craftsmen—not to mention that she had achieved both conditions. Even more surprisingly, she had become the "Ban Shu Boy" of Kuaiji Commandery, which was a special reward for top-tier artisans, a title connected to the ultimate goal of the artisan's path!

A Ban Shu Boy indeed—who was Ban Shu? Lu Ban! Tsk tsk tsk, this title sounded truly impressive.

At this moment, the conversation between Maiden Nie and Maiden Yin caught Wang Ge's attention.

Maiden Nie: "Alas, if I fail to pass this examination, it will be even harder if I want to come and take it again in the future."

Maiden Yin: "Me too. Once I reach capping age, I'll have to get married. By the way, is your older female cousin's illness any better? Is she still making such a fuss?"

"Hmph, she's even crazier. She's gone back to not speaking all day long, burying her head in embroidering... embroidering a young man onto a handkerchief, which made my aunt so angry she burned it. Before I came to the county, she ran off again. Fortunately, my aunt followed her to search for her, otherwise who knows what kind of gossip would have broken out again."

"Was your older cousin doing it on purpose?"

"On purpose? On purpose to ruin her own reputation, and along with it, the reputation of her own female relatives?"

"Hmph, you really are three years younger than me in vain. Think about it, she is already twenty. If she doesn't get married soon, the township clerk will arrange a match for her. I've heard that the husbands designated by the township clerk are either widowers or afflicted with ailments. With your cousin making such a commotion that everyone knows about it, who would be willing to marry her? Doesn't this buy her some time, just in case she really can run into the young man she fancies within these six months?"

Wang Ge, who had been eavesdropping from the front, was so startled that her eyeballs almost rolled back into the corners of her eyes. Good heavens, she remembered now—when she had previously gone to the township with her second uncle, she had encountered a young woman who threw a handkerchief at her second uncle, and that young woman seemed to have said her surname was "Nie" at the time.

No, after returning home she must instruct her second uncle not to go to the township during this period. In ancient times, people who threw caution to the winds for the sake of romance, regardless of whether they were men or women, were not worth praising. Although Maiden Nie was badmouthing her older cousin behind her back, her cousin was even more selfish for making such a fuss over a stranger until she became known and mocked by the villagers.

Maiden Nie could no longer hold back and cried, "If that's really the case, I'll fight her to the death when I get back. She gets her way, but she caused my engagement to be broken off."

At this point, Wang Ge could no longer pretend not to hear; truly, not offering comfort made one seem cold and distant, yet offering comfort made her fear that Maiden Nie would become even more embarrassed and annoyed.

Maiden Yin: "I have an idea. Go back and tell it to your aunt."

Wang Ge turned her body back and pretended to adjust the bedding on the donkey's back, then turned back around.

"Since your cousin is skilled at embroidery, she must be good at painting. Have her paint what that young man looks like, and then have your family make covert inquiries. Since that young man is very handsome, someone must have seen him. Once you find out, if that man is not yet married, send a matchmaker to propose."

"People aren't fools. Even if he isn't married, won't they ask around about my cousin's character?"

"If he doesn't agree, you all can slightly... spread a rumor saying that he took your cousin's handkerchief that day, which is what brought about this ill-fated connection. How could he cause trouble and then refuse to take responsibility? As long as you get your cousin married off and then spread some romantic tales, after spreading them long enough they'll become true. In two years, you won't even be twenty yet, so why fear not being able to choose a desirable match?"

Wang Ge almost stopped breathing!

For a fourteen-year-old girl, she was far too vicious; she thoroughly deserved to fail the quasi-master craftsman examination.

"That's right, Ah Yin, thanks to you, that truly is a good idea."

You also thoroughly deserved to fail.

Meanwhile, Huan Zhen and the other three were traveling swiftly on horseback. This time out, Huan Zhen had only brought Tiefeng with him, while Tielei remained at Reed Pavilion. The retainer following Wang Tian was surnamed Shi, called Shihou, and had a build resembling a bear.

The corners of Wang Tian's mouth and his right face were both swollen, and every time he spoke it pulled painfully at his flesh, forcing him into a rare state of quiet. This injury was caused by a mutual brawl with Sima Chong; young as he was, there was a gap in their physiques, and once again he had failed to win. Huan Zhen had not helped at the time, and had even scolded him: "Served you right."

The reason the two of them had started fighting again was that Sima Chong had come to ask Huan Zhen: "Did you know that your... that woman artisan could beat me?"

"I didn't know. But I certainly knew she excels at making ingenious devices. Why would I court danger by making an enemy of her?"

"So it was all my own fault then?"

"Clever."

Had Sima Chong not been unable to beat Huan Zhen, he could have torn him to pieces right then and mashed him into the mud. He bared his teeth in bitter hatred, breathing like an ox.

With his heavy panting, a few more bamboo sticks stained with dung fell off. "I know she's a top-tier artisan, but I don't believe those barbed caltrops could have been thought up by a little girl like her! Hmph!"

"Look." Huan Zhen produced a fire starter.

Sima Chong: "Showing off for nothing, I have one too!"

"Look again." He pointed at the fire-extinguishing vat not far away, where several bronze fire-extinguishing water tubes stood upright.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sima Chong asked with a frown.

Wang Tian darted over, his mouth fast as he explained: "It means that since you're covered in the stench of shit, you can be burned like cow dung, and a whole vat of water wouldn't wash it—"

Thud, thud, thud! The two of them immediately started brawling, you punching me and me pounding your eyes.

Recalling this, Huan Zhen saw Tiefeng returning on horseback. Tiefeng had gone to scout a small path; traversing it could save an hour of travel time.

"Young Master Huan, Young Master Wang, there is a dead person in the woods ahead, a young woman." When Tiefeng spoke, his brow twitched slightly. Huan Zhen understood that Tiefeng must have discovered a certain clue, and this clue was related to him or someone he knew.