Top Scholar

Chapter 343 Encounter on a narrow road

The group traveled for about an hour in the cool morning breeze.

After daybreak, the summer heat returned, and there wasn't a breath of wind. Even under the shade of the trees, it wasn't cool to the head; one would soon be drenched in sweat.

"Why is it so hot and humid today?" The scholars no longer cared about their image, unbuttoning their shirts and fanning themselves vigorously, almost sticking their tongues out.

"Yes, it's quite cool when I go out this morning." Wang Bantou looked up at the sky. The clouds were so thick they looked like they could be wrung out of water, and you couldn't even find the sun's shadow. But the sky was strangely bright, neither as bright as a sunny day nor as dark as a cloudy day. It was a kind of murky, dull brightness that made people's eyes feel strained.

"It looks like it's going to rain." Wang, the foreman, wiped the sweat from his brow, worriedly saying, "And quite heavily, in the middle of nowhere..."

"Everyone, grit your teeth and hurry to Shuanglinpu to rest. We won't be afraid of the rain then!" Su Lu called out loudly.

"Alright!" The crowd responded and quickened their pace, while the coachman cracked his whip to urge the mules and horses to go faster.

Sure enough, the sky quickly darkened, dark clouds pressed down, the air was so humid it seemed you could wring water out of it, and the whole world became sticky, stuffy, and suffocating. The men gritted their teeth and moved forward as fast as they could, hoping to reach Shuanglinpu before the rain started.

"It's just ahead!" Wang, the squad leader, pointed to a corner of a pavilion in the distance.

Before the words were finished, a muffled clap of thunder suddenly rolled overhead, followed by a gust of wind that rustled the leaves overhead, and large raindrops began to fall in a pattering sound.

"Run!" the scholars yelled and ran forward, while the pageboys quickly opened large tin-topped umbrellas to shield their husbands from the rain.

In the blink of an eye, the world turned white. Not only Su Lu and his group, but also another group of scholars carrying tin-topped umbrellas fled in panic toward the pavilion.

The vanguard of both sides rushed into the octagonal pavilion almost simultaneously. Some were half-soaked, while others were completely drenched, and they were all panting heavily from exhaustion.

"Sit down..." The scholars who came in first sat down, leaning against the railings around the pavilion. They had been running around like wolves and pigs and their legs were sore from all the running.

Inside the pavilion, the tea stall owner was overjoyed and quickly served tea and water to the gentlemen, saying, "Gentlemen, quickly drink a bowl of eagle tea to ward off the cold."

She then said solicitously, "Gentlemen, your shoes and socks are soaked through. You should take them off quickly to warm your feet. Otherwise, with wet socks sticking to your feet, the cold will seep into your bones, and you'll definitely catch a cold."

"Mmm." Upon hearing this, the scholars quickly took off their shoes and socks, had their page put them by the stove at the tea stall to dry, and then sat cross-legged on the chaise lounge, rubbing their feet vigorously with both hands.

"Friends, squeeze in a bit." The slower scholars gradually entered the pavilion, and naturally there was nowhere to sit.

"Excuse me, this spot is taken." The first ones there refused to retract their legs, instead spreading them even wider, because they weren't part of the group...

"No, is this supposed to be a reservation? The seats in the pavilion are for people to rest, there's no reason to reserve them in advance."

"My classmate will be here soon. If you sit down, where will he sit? Is he supposed to sit on your lap?" Unfortunately, the guy who arrived first had a mouth just as foul as Li Qiyu's.

"How can you talk like that?" The latter immediately became angry. "We're all scholars on our way to the imperial examinations, what's wrong with being a little more understanding? This chaise lounge isn't yours!"

"Don't you understand the principle of first come, first served? What country are you from? Don't you know this is the rule at the post station? Do you think we'll give you a room if you're late?"

"You're the ones who came from the countryside, you bullies!"

"Who are you calling Ba Man?" The first person to arrive stood up abruptly, clearly disliking the term.

"Oh, so you're a barbarian from Chongqing!" the scholars from Luzhou exclaimed in surprise. "Barbarian, barbarian!"

"You country bumpkin, you country bumpkin!" The two sides immediately started arguing back and forth. The tea shop owner, terrified, quickly protected the stove, fearing he might knock it over and burn the men...

Wang's men were about to rush forward, but he stopped them and whispered, "Don't worry, there won't be a fight."

The pavilion grew larger and larger, filled entirely with scholars. The two sides were tense, accusing each other, their voices nearly lifting the roof off, yet not a single person actually laid a hand on the object…

"What's going on?" Just then, two more scholars from Chongqing arrived. One of them, a young man with a square face and in his early twenties, immediately drew responses from his fellow villagers as soon as he spoke.

"Brother Shunyu, they're swearing!"

The square-faced man and the handsome young man beside him were the leaders of this group of Chongqing scholars. The seats that the other Chongqing scholars had reserved for them were for the two of them.

"Stop spouting nonsense!" the scholar from Luzhou retorted. "You were the ones who took the seats first, and then you wouldn't even speak properly!"

"How could we not speak properly? That's just how we Chongqing people talk!"

"We Luzhou people speak like this too! Why are you all so agitated?"

"You're insulting us Chongqing people!"

"Didn't you guys curse at us?!"

Seeing that the two sides were about to start arguing again, "Brother Shunyu" raised his hand to stop his fellow townsmen from shouting, and then laughed loudly: "Brothers, you are all scholars who have come to Chengdu to take the imperial examination. It is really an insult to your culture to argue like this over a seat."

“Indeed.” In Luzhou, the eldest brother, Su Lu, nodded and said, “Everyone needs to take off their shoes and dry their feet. The balconies are public land, so let’s just make do when we’re out and about.”

“This brother is absolutely right. We’re all on the same path, and we might even be classmates in the future. Let’s not hurt our friendship.” Brother Shunyu laughed and said, “Everyone, please squeeze in. If you can’t squeeze in, just wait a little while.”

"Then who goes first and who goes last?" The young man next to Brother Shunyu was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with fair skin and a handsome and refined appearance, but he also had a bit of the arrogance of a young master from a noble family... just like Zhu Xi before he studied the Book of Rites. "We go first, you go last," Li Qiyu said.

"Why should I give up my seat when I've already sat down?" the Chongqing scholar retorted angrily.

"How about this? We are all scholars, so let's have a contest in the way scholars do. The winner will sit first, and the loser will have to wait," said Brother Shunyu.

"Let's have a contest! Who's afraid of who?!" The scholars from Luzhou readily agreed. Firstly, they were bored while sheltering from the rain and wanted to find some amusement; secondly, with both Young Master Bai and Su Hongzhi on their side, why would they be afraid of a battle?
“Alright, it’s just me and Brother Weixin on this side of Chongqing Prefecture.” Brother Shunyu pointed to the young master beside him and then asked Su Man, “What about your side?”

"Yunshan, you go into battle with your senior brother." Although everyone was eager to try, it was a matter of face for Luzhou, so they had to send out their strongest lineup.

"No problem." Young Master Bai stood up with a smile and left gracefully. When it came to the demeanor of a young master, he was in no way inferior to Brother Weixin.

The scholars then retreated to the surrounding areas, leaving the four of them in the center.

Both sides first introduced themselves according to the rules...

"My name is Xia Bangmo from Chongqing, courtesy name Shunyu," the square-faced scholar said, bowing first.

"Wow, it's Xia Bangmo from the Lizhe Society..." The scholars from Luzhou stirred up upon hearing this.

Their Yangjiang Society is modeled after the Lizhe Society, but at least for now, it is far from comparable to the latter. The Lizhe Society was formed by Yang Shen using his family's influence to bring together the top scholars in Sichuan.

The so-called "Lize Dui, a gentleman discusses and learns with friends" means that Yang Yongxiu can only befriend the most outstanding scholars from various prefectures and counties, and each member is famous throughout Sichuan... For example, in Luzhou, only Su Lu is qualified to join this association.

But for some reason, Yang Shen never sent him an invitation, so there wasn't a single member of the Lizhe Society in the entire Luzhou.

Xia Bangmo was the only member of the Lizhe Society in Chongqing Prefecture. Just look at the reaction of the scholars in Luzhou—joining the Lizhe Society greatly enhanced his reputation!

"My name is Liu Henian from Chongqing, courtesy name Weixin," the handsome young man beside Xia Bangmo said with a smile, bowing slightly.

"Oh, a member of the Liu family from Ba County." This time, the Luzhou scholar's reaction wasn't as strong, but the Liu family of Ba County was a family of scholars who had passed the imperial examinations, on par with the Yang family of Xindu.

Su Lu stood beside Baiyun Mountain, smiling and cupping his hands in greeting, saying, "I am Su Lu from Luzhou, courtesy name Hongzhi."

"Oh, it's him!" This time, the Chongqing scholar's exclamation was several times louder than Xia Bangmo's earlier.

"One of the two minor triple champions this year!"

"Phonetic symbols..."

"Color is hard to find, it's easy to write!"

"Hypothetical-deductive method..."

"I heard he also calls himself the 'Little Yang Shen of Luzhou'!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" the scholars from Luzhou retorted angrily. "It would be more accurate to call Yang Shen 'Little Su Lu of Xindu'!"

"Ahem..." Bai Yunshan had to cough twice to bring his attention back to himself and said, "I am Bai Junfeng from Luzhou, courtesy name Yunshan, and I am known by my courtesy name."

"So it's Young Master Bai, I've heard so much about you." Liu Henian, who had also been ignored, chimed in.

"Likewise." Young Master Bai returned the greeting with a smile, showing mutual respect.

"Alright, let's begin." Xia Bangmo stared intently at Su Lu; he had only made these dumplings because of this dish of vinegar.

I should send my brother Yongxiu a small gift as a token of our meeting.

"Brother Hongzhi and Brother Yunshan, please give us the questions," Liu Henian said.

According to the rules, they are the challengers, and the respondent should choose the method of fighting.

"You guys go ahead." Su Lu waved his hand and said generously, "Since Brother Shunyu has taken the initiative to propose a battle, he must already have a plan in mind. Why not just say it directly to save trouble?"

“That’s right, let’s draw up the lines, whatever you want to do,” Baiyunshan said with a smile.

"What arrogance..." The scholars from Chongqing sneered, realizing that this man was not taking their leader seriously.

“Since you two are so confident, I will play the first game, and then you can play the next one.” Xia Bangmo was no pushover either.

The implication is that, since that's the case, we should accept the victory in the first game.

Then he asked loudly, "You all now refer to the war of words as the war of words, but do you know the origin of the war of words?"

"Of course I know. In the past, Ouyang Xiu and his friends admired the snow and composed a poem in the 'forbidden style' with 'snow' as the theme," Zhu Zihe said.

“Well said! But it doesn’t snow here, so how about we write a ‘forbidden poem’ on the theme of rain today?” Xia Bangmo said, “That would be following in the footsteps of the ancients.”

(End of this chapter)