Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 781 Official Practice
In this world, the "cost of cheating" in the imperial examinations is ridiculously high.

The methods of anonymizing names, transcribing, and locking the examination hall are already well-established. Do you think you can get through by smuggling in materials, taking the exam for someone else, or bribing someone?
At best, they would be exiled three thousand miles away; at worst, they would lose their heads.

Those with connections could directly enter the "recommendation system," and scions of prominent families could enter officialdom through their fathers' influence. Who would bother with your years of hard study?

Those without connections were determined to succeed in the imperial examinations, which is why the court cracked down on cheating in the examinations with near-cruelty.

So, what can ordinary people do when they find the questions too difficult and cheating is a death sentence?
The answer, of course, is: the method!

At this time, Wenchang Palaces were built in every prefecture and county throughout the land.

The incense at the Wenchang Emperor Temple has once again reached its peak period, which occurs every three years.

Incense smoke curled around the temples, candlelight shone like daytime, and the thresholds of Taoist temples across the land were almost worn down by the candidates.

Although Buddhism also has prayer ceremonies, it emphasizes "equality of all beings" and at most recites the Heart Sutra for dedication, which seems too general.

The Taoist sect, however, is well-versed in the art of "market segmentation" and has directly launched three major scientific instrument packages:

The Wisdom-Enhancing Ritual is suitable for children's early education and is affordable; the Literary Fortune-Boosting Ritual is for scholars and includes the recitation of the "Wen Chang Yin Zhi Wen"; the Examination-Preparing Ritual is specifically for the autumn imperial examinations and comes with a "Wen Chang" talisman.

What is professionalism? This is professionalism!

While ordinary students crowded outside the hall to burn three sticks of incense, the real powerful and wealthy had already bought their exclusive seats in the "presentation ceremony".

The Taoist priests, dressed in gold-embroidered crimson robes and holding jade tablets, burned the cinnabar petitions filled with the candidates' names and ascended to heaven.
The petition clearly reads: "Believer XXX, with devout offerings, prays for the Emperor's favor..."

This is the core ritual in Taoist fasting and offering ceremonies, also known as "burning petitions" or "burning petitions," which involves burning petitions to convey believers' wishes to the heavens.

It means, Lord Wenchang, these candidates with these names are the most devout, please pay more attention to them.

The sense of ritual is off the charts.

There's also the worship of Kui Xing, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, a belief that was popular during the Eastern Han Dynasty and is somewhat retro.

Later it will be incorporated into "Kui Xing".

The common depiction of Kui Xing is that he holds an inkwell in his left hand and a large writing brush, called the vermilion brush, in his right hand.

It is said that if Kui Xing writes your name in red ink with his brush, that is your ranking. Kui Xing raises his left foot and kicks back, with the Big Dipper on his foot, signifying "Kui Xing kicks the Dipper"; his right foot stands on one leg, stepping on the head of a large sea turtle, symbolizing "standing out from the crowd".

While students from Shouchun were scrambling to burn incense at the Wenchang Palace, students from neighboring Yanguan County were finding a different way—

They worship the God of Literature.

Qiao Feng was pulled along by his father-in-law and, as the son-in-law of the county magistrate, stood at the very front, where he also offered prayers for several of his friends from the academy.

Actually, these people's worship was a little off.

Wenquxing is the fourth star of the Big Dipper, and it is a manifestation of the temperament of the Big Dipper Star Lord. It belongs to the Big Dipper system.

The Wenchang Star consists of six stars, forming a crescent shape in front of the Dipper. It is the collective name for the six stars and belongs to the Ziwei Enclosure.

These two are not from the same galaxy.

Furthermore, while the Wenqu Star governs literary fortune, it places greater emphasis on the study and refinement of talents such as poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, chess, and divination, as well as eloquence and numerology. It also has the responsibility of overseeing academic achievements and official titles, but this is secondary and more focused on individual talents.

The Wen Chang star governs literary talent and benefactors, symbolizing academic success and orthodox academic education. It favors literature and academic theory, and is a symbol of academic achievement and success, closely related to academic success and orthodox academic education.

The students from Yanguan didn't care about any of that; their logic was very simple:
"Doesn't the God of Literature also have the character 'Wen' in his name?"

"The name 'Big Dipper Star Lord' sounds more impressive than the Six Stars of Literature!"

"Too many people from the neighboring county worship Wenchang, the deity is too busy to handle them all, so let's switch to a less popular route..."

Suddenly, the Wenquxing Temple in Yanguan became incredibly popular, with some students even placing poetry collections and painting albums on the offering table, hoping the star deity would grant them the talent to compose a poem in seven steps. Upon hearing this, Xu Xuan almost burst out laughing: "These people worship gods like they're making investments—'diversifying risk, casting a wide net'?"

But then I thought about it again and felt a bittersweet feeling amidst the absurdity: those who worship Wenchang fear they are not "orthodox enough in their studies," while those who worship Wenqu fear they are "unbalanced in their studies"...

Ultimately, it's nothing more than educational anxiety that has permeated thousands of years of civilization.

A bold idea suddenly popped into my head:

"Actually, it's better to worship me than to worship the God of Literature."

Now that all the gods in heaven are gone, at most, a star's destiny can be reincarnated into the human world, and who knows, we might even be lucky enough to become a star father.

In short, scholars would create any god or worship any Buddha in order to achieve fame and success.

Confucius said, "Respect the spirits and gods, but keep them at a distance."
But the examination hall is like a battlefield, where life and death, success or failure, all hinge on this one moment, so who cares about the teachings of the sages?
Whether it's useful or not is not important; peace of mind is the most important thing.

Therefore, Xu Xuan still encourages some students who lack confidence to take some time to pray, which is not a bad thing.

"No."

"Master Xu underestimated us."

"Qiao Danian is uncertain, but we are different."

"That's right, that's right. Confucius said..."

The most arrogant one was a student surnamed Ji, who patted his chest with an exceptionally flamboyant manner and even winked at Qian Zhongyu.

It means that you three heroes are still a bit less courageous than us three extraordinary ones.

But just two days later, the academy received some interesting news.

Rumor has it that a scholar surnamed Ji's family spent a fortune to hold a grand ceremony at home, involving the initiation of an altar, the invitation of a saint, and the presentation of petitions, which became the subject of much ridicule.

After all, most of the students in Chongqi Academy are the pride of heaven. Even if they secretly kowtow on the ground for a day and a night, they will outwardly show that they are confident and respect ghosts and gods but keep their distance.

In addition, someone made a lot of sarcastic remarks a few days ago, and said a lot of sarcastic things to others.

It instantly became the eye of the storm.

Ji Rui...

Feeling somewhat embarrassed and annoyed by his two good brothers' "concern," he could only put his arm around their shoulders and loudly proclaim, "The petition has not only my name on it, but also yours."

The classmate, who had been teasing him, suddenly became a character in the story, and his folding fan fell to the ground with a "clatter." Ning Caichen sighed, "The reputation of our Three Wonders has been completely ruined by you."

But what could we do? Of course, we just put on awkward smiles.

The classmates immediately started to tease:
One cheerleader exclaimed, "With the three of them united, their strength can break metal! They're likely to sweep the top three spots in this year's imperial examinations!"

Everyone knows the level of the three extraordinary individuals. Even setting aside prejudices, it must be admitted that these three unconventional fellows have a much higher probability of passing the imperial examinations than ordinary scholars.

This was just a joke, and also a way of communicating feelings.

Some people, however, were sour: "Three scholars under the Wenchang Temple, their humble strategies are a complete mystery to all." This was a veiled criticism that they were incompetent in writing and relied entirely on superstition.

In reality, the three major programs cost a lot of money, and even disciples from minor families couldn't afford them; this was purely out of jealousy.

Zhu Yingtai peeked out from the crowd, her face filled with heartache and indignation:
"Brother Ji—why didn't you take Brother Shanbo and me along too?"

Sincerity is the ultimate weapon, leaving Ji Rui somewhat speechless.

(End of this chapter)