Chapter 157: Endless Turmoil

Crane? The appearance of the Scarlet Firmament flashed through Wang Ge's mind.

She placed the nineteen bamboo strips into the back basket by the wall, smiled at Lady Meng and her companion as a greeting, and then came out again carrying a winnowing basket. Twenty people lived in the dwellings, but there were only five crafting areas on each side of the courtyard.

What did this indicate? It indicated that before the Master Artisan Grand Competition, the Intensive Training Camp would eliminate a large number of candidates. Everyone was a rival. Others did not know how to carve a crane, but she did; what others excelled at, she might not be proficient in.

Therefore, she should stop pondering the Master Artisan Grand Competition for now and first find a way to stay in the Intensive Training Camp. Finding a way did not mean taking shortcuts, but rather pushing every craft she knew to the absolute limit. While pondering these thoughts, she did not waste time; she sharpened her blade and began splitting the bamboo filaments.

Simulating the previous task: composed, calm, and fully concentrated. Indeed, she could split the bamboo filaments even finer and shorten the time further, but true advancement meant merging speed and precision into one!

Wang Ge, you can do it! If your craftsmanship remained at the level of your past life, you would merely be Wang Nanxing. If there is no progress, what is the meaning of living this life over again?

Regretting that time flows like water, after splitting a single bamboo strip into one hundred and thirty filaments, the sky grew dark. The kitchen, closest by, could be reached by walking straight along the long northern corridor. She collected her food, filled a bamboo flask with hot water, and returned just as night fell.

The nights here had no candle lanterns, only officials patrolling with portable lamps. When they reached this courtyard, they shouted, "No leaving the courtyard after nightfall. Daily routine tasks begin at the first quarter of the Chen hour."

The first quarter of the Chen hour—Wang Ge memorized this time. Unable to fall asleep for a moment, she felt around for a fine bamboo filament, closing her eyes to sense its delicacy. Back when she had split those one hundred and thirty filaments, she had cut a nick with the blade at one end of each.

Heaven rewards diligent effort. Pretending to be blind, she gently tore along this extremely fine cut to create a small opening, hooked it with her left index finger, pinched it tight, and pulled upward with her right hand. No, there was a sound.

Walking on tiptoe, she gathered all the bamboo filaments, stepped outside the door, and sat on the straw mat in the crafting area. Since she could not see clearly anyway, she simply stopped looking and relied entirely on intuition to split them into layers once more.

Blind-splitting bamboo filaments took twice as long for each piece! How terrifying; her skill was still far from sufficient.

An hour and a half later, she finally returned to her room to sleep.

The kitchen served breakfast at the exact hour of Mao. Every prospective artisan ate quickly, then arrived early at the area where they wished to claim a task, waiting for the Chen hour to arrive.

Wang Ge waited in the nearest lumber area. Originally, she had intended to go to the bamboo materials area again, but there were simply too many candidates, and she feared missing out on a task—only to find the lumber area was just as crowded. She also noticed something: some prospective artisans looked unfamiliar, not appearing to be fellow travelers from Tuoyi County.

With the calls announcing the first quarter of the Chen hour, she sprinted toward a stern-looking artisan official.

Infuriatingly, more than a dozen people had the same idea; they all thought themselves quite clever, assuming others would be afraid of someone with such a fierce visage. Even more infuriatingly, some scoundrel grabbed her by the arm, instantly pulling her to the very outer perimeter.

Wang Ge hastily ran toward the artisan official with the fewest people gathered around. Unfortunately, fixed tasks were limited, and she, along with six others, failed to secure one. As she left the area, the artisan official was shouting: "Today, Lumber Area C has only one identical task... Mortise and tenon wood fitting! The twenty-two people who secured this task have a time limit of two hours to use fixed wood blocks to carve different mortise and tenon structures. The two with the lowest scores will be judged as having failed the task."

At this point, going to other material areas was definitely out of the question. Looking around, people were climbing trees, rummaging through grass, and even propping up wooden ladders to climb courtyard walls, all trying their utmost to find lucky random tasks.

Wang Ge forced herself to calm down. Yesterday's lucky tasks had basically all been cleared out, so today's hidden spots for lucky tasks would surely be along the path patrolled by the officials last night. The routes they walked required passing the prospective artisans' courtyards. If she were an official, if she were a patrolling guard...

And furthermore, take tasks like moving the feeding troughs from yesterday, for instance—there would definitely be artisan officials watching nearby. But for simple tasks like Lady Meng's (delivering a cloth strip with task instructions to a certain place or person), there was no need for an official to watch. The task materials certainly would not be obvious, and to remain inconspicuous, the best method was to hide them among the flowers and plants along the patrolling route, or within tree crowns that were not too high.

The chances on the courtyard walls were not high because the walls were tall, and wooden ladders were unlikely to be encountered during patrols.

Wang Ge fixed her gaze beneath the leaves of a cluster of flower beds. To straighten the plants, the lower halves of the stalks were bound with a ring of straw, and tucked between the blades of straw... was a bamboo strip of the exact same color.

She pulled out the bamboo strip, and sure enough, characters were carved upon it: *Hand over to Artisan Zhao in the Woven Grass Materials Area B.*

The sun was truly shining brightly. Holding the bamboo strip, she smiled with her eyes curved into crescents. Someone hurried past from the opposite direction, looking anxious as they searched for lucky tasks on the go.

Wang Ge truly did not pay attention to him, because just moments ago she had worn that exact same expression. But as she brushed past this person, his hand moved with extreme speed, snatching the bamboo strip from her grasp while he rebuked her: "Watch where you're walking."

Before the scoundrel could finish speaking, Wang Ge shouted at the top of her lungs: "Robbery!"

Two officials hurried over: one was the female artisan official Meng, and the other was a burly man with the identity of a county official—a Gate-Attendant Thief-Catching Officer.

Female Official Meng asked Wang Ge first: "Prospective Artisan Wang, what is the meaning of this uproar?"

The Thief-Catching Officer understood; Female Official Meng knew this young maiden.

"He snatched my task material," Wang Ge pointed first at the hand of the artisan candidate.

The Thief-Catching Officer swung his thick arm, generating a gust of wind as he snatched the bamboo strip back.

The artisan candidate immediately retorted: "She is lying. I found this bamboo strip right here," he pointed to the straw on the outer ring of the plant bed.

The Thief-Catching Officer shouted toward the courtyard gate ten paces away: "Who's sneaking around over there?"

A young candidate emerged, trembling. The Thief-Catching Officer was too terrifying; the boy did not even dare raise his eyelids.

Yet his words were logical and orderly, which clashed starkly with his timidity. "I just saw it—he was the one who found the bamboo strip, and he had been holding it all along," he pointed to the artisan candidate, then pointed to Wang Ge: "This young maiden bumped into him while walking and inexplicably shouted robbery. That's all I saw; it has nothing to do with me."

Wang Ge instantly realized that these two scamps were in cahoots. Could it be related to the hypocritical candidates eliminated yesterday? Seeking deliberate revenge? Unlikely! After all, nobody would risk themselves just to avenge someone who had already been eliminated.

Given the current situation, Female Official Meng did not dare to interrupt further.

The Thief-Catching Officer spoke: "Since it has nothing to do with you, remain silent for now. Prospective Artisan Wang, you saw it too—he has a witness, and the bamboo strip was in his hand just now. What evidence do you have to prove this bamboo strip is yours?"

"I know the dimensions of the bamboo strip."

The artisan candidate sneered: "I know them too. Length..."

The Thief-Catching Officer snapped: "Silence! Answer only when I question you!"

Wang Ge said: "I request that both of us write the dimensions of the bamboo strip on the ground."

A fine method. The Thief-Catching Officer granted permission.

Wang Ge and the artisan candidate stood back-to-back, one using a pebble and the other a grass stalk to scratch upon the ground.

What Wang Ge wrote was: Length, fivecun and threefen; width, one cun minus one fen.

Looking at the artisan candidate's writing: it was identical!

Wang Ge added: "I also know what characters are written on the bamboo strip."

The artisan candidate gave a light scoff.

The two turned back-to-back once again, each writing the eleven characters: *Hand over to Artisan Zhao in the Woven Grass Materials Area B*.

Female Official Meng grew even more anxious: How could both of them write the exact same stroke formations as those on the bamboo strip?

The Thief-Catching Officer, conversely, understood Wang Ge's strategy and inwardly praised her profusely.

Sure enough, once Wang Ge stood up this time, she faced the young candidate and said: "You said earlier that he found the bamboo strip and kept holding it the entire time—meaning the bamboo strip never passed through my hands, right? Then how could I possibly know its length, width, and what characters are written on it? Therefore, regardless of whether he snatched it from me or I from him, it proves entirely that you are lying!"

*(Note: Gate-Attendant Thief-Catching Officer refers to a title for county-appointed officials tasked with capturing thieves and bandits. The chief official of the Thief-Catching Department is called the Thief-Catching Sima or掾, below whom are Thief-Catching Historians, and further below are ordinary Thief-Catching Officers.)*