Chapter 31: Bribing the County Magistrate

As Wei Tu had anticipated, after learning that he had returned to the Li Manor using a carriage borrowed from the Huang family, a subtle shift occurred in Master Li Yaozu's attitude. His tone when speaking to Wei Tu became noticeably more equal, no longer using words like "loyal and honest" to describe him, nor commenting on how he had been "dutiful" while serving in the Li household.

"The Huang family?"

"If not for our Li family purchasing him back then, would he even be alive today? Where was his second aunt at that time?"

In the study of the Li Manor, Li Xingye conversed with Master Li Yaozu, his tone filled with displeasure.

A former household servant had, in this short span of time, now become someone who sat at the same table as him. And not only that, but Master Li Yaozu and First Madam Li Tongshi frequently reminded him to maintain a good relationship with Wei Tu, saying that he would be of great use in the future.

Although Li Xingye obeyed his parents' wishes and outwardly treated Wei Tu with civility, acting as if they were equals, deep inside, his resentment grew.

Everything Wei Tu had was granted by the Li family, yet he still acted as if he was on equal footing with them. This was something Li Xingye found intolerable.

Moreover, he himself was ranked in the top ten of the county examination, with high hopes of securing an official title in this round. Why should he have to consider the opinions of a former servant before making any decisions?

A few days ago, he had managed to tolerate it.

But today, seeing that Master Li Yaozu was treating Wei Tu with even more courtesy, speaking to him with visible deference—Li Xingye could no longer endure it.

To see his father bowing and scraping before a former household servant?

It was an outright humiliation.

"Good heavens, my dear ancestor, lower your voice. Don't let the servants overhear you." Master Li Yaozu was startled by Li Xingye's words. He hurriedly walked to the door, looked around carefully, and, after confirming that no servants were nearby, immediately closed the windows and shut the door tightly.

"What does it matter?" Li Xingye didn't take it seriously and casually sat down on a straight-backed chair near the study desk.

However, he still lowered his voice slightly, listening to his father's request.

"Just endure it for a few more days. Soon, I will send him away." Master Li Yaozu coaxed him.

"Fine," Li Xingye raised an eyebrow and did not argue further.

"Oh, right, Father, tell the maid to bring me some more pastries. I'm hungry."

At this moment, Li Xingye spoke again.

"Hungry?"

"Didn't we just have dinner?"

Hearing this, Master Li Yaozu secretly cursed Li Xingye for being wasteful, feeling the pinch of spending money.

Having an extra meal at night—how much would that cost?

"I refuse to touch food that he has touched," Li Xingye scoffed as he held a book of Confucian classics in his hands, his voice full of disdain.

…

The next day.

In the square before the main temple of Chenghuang Temple on West Main Street, the second round of the martial examination commenced.

This round consisted of three tests: mounted archery, foot archery, and combat trials.

Once these three tests were completed, it would mark the end of the outdoor portion of the examination, leaving only the final segment—the indoor strategy assessment.

"Upper First Class…"

"Middle First Class…"

Soon, Wei Tu's results for mounted archery and foot archery were announced.

For both exams, he had secured a First-Class ranking, placing him among the top martial candidates.

"He actually has a trained Qingcang horse?"

Outside the examination grounds, a group of gentry were visibly shocked. They had not expected that someone of Wei Tu's humble background would be riding a Qingcang horse in the mounted archery trial instead of using the subpar horses provided by the county.

"Just what is this Wei Tu's background? Was he deliberately concealing his true status in the previous rounds?"

Many of them wore grim expressions.

But before long, they dismissed this idea.

In the martial examination, pretending to be of common birth had no real advantage. In fact, it could even lead to being looked down upon by the examiners, potentially lowering one's score.

"The night before the last round ended, I saw Master Huang meeting this Wei Tu with one of his concubines. Could it be that they have a prior connection?"

A curious gentryman asked.

The Huang family was one of the wealthiest in Qingmu County, and every action they took was closely observed by their peers. Although no one had seen Master Huang publicly acknowledge Wei Tu, word had still spread that he had visited the Huang estate.

"Hmm…" Master Huang hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"He is my concubine's nephew, which makes him my nephew as well…"

"So, this Wei Tu is related to the Huang family?" The gentry beside him immediately pressed for confirmation.

If Wei Tu was indeed from the Huang family, then their previous assumptions about him being a commoner were likely mistaken.

This time in the county martial examination, Wei Tu had a high chance of securing the county's top martial ranking. Even if he did not claim the top spot, with his outstanding results in the outdoor assessments, placing among the top few on the ranking list was more than certain. At this moment, aside from his "blade technique" performance in the skill and courage category, where he only managed an Upper Second Class ranking, all of his other results were in the First Class tier. Now, the county martial examination had only two tests left—the combat trial and the final indoor assessment, the strategy examination. The combat trial was a direct duel between martial candidates, and with the level of strength Wei Tu had already demonstrated, earning a First-Class grade was not difficult. That meant only the strategy examination remained to determine the final rankings for this county-level martial examination.

However, in the Zheng Kingdom, the martial examination followed the principle of "first comes martial skill, then comes strategy." In other words, the strategy assessment had limited influence on the final rankings. As long as Wei Tu did not write complete nonsense during the strategy examination, his overall results would be enough to place him within the top five, possibly top three, or even take the top spot.

And as for the strategy examination…

The gentry families had their own ways to obtain the exam questions in advance from the county magistrate.

If Wei Tu was truly from the Huang family…

Then this strategy examination would be nothing more than a formality for him. With an eighty percent chance, he would claim the top spot in the county martial examination.

Hearing the gentry's inquiries, Master Huang shook his head. He certainly wished for Wei Tu to become part of the Huang family, but unfortunately, Wei Tu had already found a worthy teacher. The promises of wealth and benefits that Master Huang could offer were, in Wei Tu's eyes, as light as a feather—not nearly enough to tempt him.

"Then that's fine," the gentrymen sighed in relief.

Just like in the civil examination, where the top county scholar was guaranteed a recommendation for the prefectural examination, the top martial candidate was directly recommended for the Dao examination as well. Advancing to the Dao examination significantly increased one's chances of securing an official rank.

"Although Wei Tu is not a member of the Huang family, his background… he is the disciple of Dan Wu Ju from Sanyuan Township."

Master Huang deliberately added this remark.

Even if these gentrymen did not ask, he had already planned to make Wei Tu's identity public today.

This was not because he wanted to elevate his own status by associating with Wei Tu.

What he feared was Wei Tu's future.

Right now, being the disciple of a martial scholar did not hold much weight.

But Master Huang was well aware of how things worked behind the scenes in these examinations. These gentrymen would bribe the county officials to manipulate the rankings.

If nothing was done, it was entirely possible that Wei Tu, who should have been the top-ranked martial candidate, could be deliberately pushed down to second, third, or even fourth place.

As a member of the gentry, Master Huang understood these underhanded tactics all too well.

"What?"

"A martial scholar's disciple?"

Upon hearing this, the gentrymen's expressions changed slightly, and some of them felt a wave of gratitude toward Master Huang for informing them in advance.

It was common practice for county magistrates to consider a candidate's background when determining their final ranking.

If they had been unaware of Wei Tu's connection to a martial scholar and had gone ahead with bribing the county officials to lower his rank, they would have wasted their money and possibly even offended a rising star in the martial examination.

"In that case… the top martial candidate is almost certainly Wei Tu. There's no need for us to spend money needlessly."

The gentrymen exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

…

At the same time.

Up on the high platform, County Magistrate Chen, who had been dozing off, received a letter from one of his household servants.

When he heard it was from his wife, he frowned slightly and opened it to read.

The contents were simple. The letter only mentioned that earlier today, Master Huang had sent a coral ornament to their household, and Madam Huang had gifted the magistrate's wife a gold-inlaid pearl hairpin.

At the end of the letter, Magistrate Chen's wife added a small note—Wei Tu was the nephew of Madam Huang and the disciple of Dan Wu Ju from Sanyuan Township.