Journey to the West: Please Call Me the White Bone Demon

Spring breezes blew through the White Bone Cave several times, and by the time Yun Zhao finally got up, half a month had passed.

He leaned against the throne in the main hall, while the White Bone Demon knelt obediently beside him, massaging his legs.

He was thinking about his next move.

With his current strength, he has no chance of winning by force. Let alone forcing the monkey to call for reinforcements, he would even have some difficulty dealing with Sha Wujing.

Therefore, outsmarting them is the only way.

He looked up at the White Bone Demon: "I have to go out again, this time it may take three to five years."

The White Bone Demon pouted, drawing circles on his leg with her fingertips: "Where is Your Majesty going this time?"

"Go become an official."

Yun Zhao casually uttered a sentence that almost made the White Bone Demon bite her tongue: "Baoxiang Kingdom is a small place with poor education. It takes ten years to produce a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). I'll go there and become the top scholar, then the prime minister. In five years, I can turn the entire Baoxiang Kingdom into my backyard."

The White Bone Demon blinked, and it took her a while to come to her senses: "Your Majesty... are you serious?"

"More serious than real gold."

Yun Zhao patted her head, "You just stay in the cave and guard White Tiger Ridge well, don't let anyone break in. When Tang Sanzang passes through Baoxiang Kingdom, I will make my own arrangements."

Three days later.

Baoxiang Kingdom, capital city: Gongchangcheng.

At the city gate, a handsome young scholar in a blue robe led a white horse, with a blue cloth satchel hanging from his waist, and slowly walked into the city.

The scholar introduced himself as Yun, with the single character Zhao. He said he was originally from Jiangzhou in the Tang Dynasty, but his hometown was flooded, and he had ended up here. He wanted to take advantage of the "Erudite and Eloquent Scholar Examination" held every three years in Baoxiang Kingdom.

He rented the cheapest courtyard in the south of the city for only three qian of silver per month.

Although the courtyard was dilapidated, it was kept clean.

Next door lived Old Wang, who sold sesame cakes; across the street was Zhao Wenqing, a pedantic scholar who taught at a private school; and further east was Zhang San, a notorious rogue from the west of the city.

On the first day Yun Zhao moved in, Old Wang came over with a plate of freshly baked sesame cakes as a visitor.

"Brother Yun, you have such delicate skin and you're from out of town, you'd better be careful."

Old Wang lowered his voice, "Our Gongchangcheng hasn't produced a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in ten years. The last one was Old Master Qian twenty-eight years ago. You're so young, I'm afraid you're... tsk tsk."

Yun Zhao smiled and took the sesame seed cake: "Uncle Wang, I was just trying my luck."

Zhao, the scholar across the hall, overheard this, snorted coldly, and walked past the doorway carrying a book. He deliberately read aloud, "'If a gentleman does not practice propriety for three years, propriety will surely decay; if he does not enjoy music for three years, music will surely collapse.' If Young Master Yun truly possesses such perseverance, this old man will wait and see!"

He spoke so loudly that all the neighbors heard him and burst into laughter.

"Master Zhao is right! In our Baoxiang Kingdom, the Imperial Examination for Learned Scholars is held only once every ten years. The exam tests the three classics: the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Rites of Zhou, and the Book of Songs, plus an essay on policy. Who wouldn't study until their hair turns white before daring to even attempt it?"

"I heard that the chief examiner this time is the Vice Minister of Rites, invited from the Tang Dynasty. He's known for his impartiality!"

"Young man, why don't you just stick to running your business? The path to officialdom is too difficult!"

Yun Zhao simply smiled and did not argue.

He would rise at dawn every day to sweep the courtyard, cook porridge, and read by lamplight. He bought books one by one from Baoxiang Bookstore, from the Four Books and Five Classics to Tang Code, Kaiyuan Rites, and Tongdian, and even a rubbing of the rare Guliang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

While others might forget 70% of what they read after one reading, he has a photographic memory.

While others took half a year to memorize the Spring and Autumn Annals, he could recite it in three days.

While others would bite through three pens to write policy essays, he could pick up his pen and write three thousand words in a flash, without making a single mistake.

But he never flaunted his abilities.

A month before the exam, the imperial edict was posted in the city: This year's erudite and eloquent scholar examination will select only forty people. The top scorer will be directly appointed as a "compiler in the Hanlin Academy", the second-ranked candidates will be able to enter the court as officials, and the third-ranked candidates will be granted the title of "Jinshi".

The news caused a sensation throughout the city.

There were thousands of people queuing at the registration desk. The oldest was sixty-seven and the youngest was in his early thirties. There wasn't a single young person like Yun Zhao, who was under twenty.

The rascal Zhang San, always eager for a good show, would squat outside Yun Zhao's door every day, stirring up trouble: "Little scholar Yun, I heard you signed up too? Hahaha, don't come crying back later!"

Yun Zhao would just smile each time, close the door, and continue reading.

Finally, the exam period arrived.

On the fifteenth of March, a gentle spring rain fell.

In front of the Gongchangcheng Examination Hall, more than three hundred candidates knelt in a dense crowd, each wearing a straw hat, clutching their examination papers, and trembling.

Yun Zhao, dressed in a blue robe, stood alone in the corner, without even holding an umbrella.

The examiner was the Grand Preceptor of Baoxiang Kingdom, an old eunuch with white hair and beard, who shouted in a shrill voice, "Silence—body search!"

The soldiers searched each person one by one. Anyone found hiding cheat sheets was dragged out and given thirty lashes on the spot, crying and screaming for their parents.

When it was Yun Zhao's turn, he opened his arms and let the soldiers search him thoroughly, but naturally they found nothing.

The old imperial advisor glanced at him a couple more times and sneered, "Young man, you've got some nerve."

Yun Zhao cupped his hands in greeting, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears: "This student has come here only to seek a clear conscience."

The gates of the examination hall slammed shut.

The first session focused on the interpretation of scriptures.

Titles: One title each for the following: the meaning of "the first month of the king's reign" in the Spring and Autumn Annals, the meaning of "the guardian official in charge of admonishing the king against evil" in the Rites of Zhou, and the meaning of "the poem of millet" in the Book of Songs.

Other test takers were dumbfounded when they saw the questions. All three questions were off-topic, and no one would dare to guess them normally.

Yun Zhao picked up his pen, and in less than half an hour, he had completed three chapters on the classics. The handwriting was neat, the citations were detailed, and the ideas were lofty.

The second round was a policy discussion.

Title: On "How to make Baoxiang Kingdom prosperous and strong, and on par with the Tang Dynasty".

While other candidates bit their pens until they bled, Yun Zhao wrote incredibly fast.

He began by discussing the geography of Baoxiang Kingdom, pointing out its unique geographical location: "bordered by the Yangtze River to the south, controlling the grasslands to the north, and connecting to the Western Regions trade routes to the west." He then discussed the four major policies of water conservancy, salt and iron, tea and horses, and silk. Finally, he proposed five major strategies: "establishing the imperial examination system, building schools, reducing taxes, emphasizing agriculture and sericulture, and opening up the Western Regions."

The entire text, totaling over four thousand words, is clearly organized and every word is precious.

The third event was poetry and prose.

Title: An Ode to Spring Rain

While others were still thinking of "subtle and silent influence," Yun Zhao had already begun writing:

"A light rain falls on the imperial street, as soft as butter; the grass appears green from afar but is barely visible up close. This is the best time of year in spring, far surpassing the misty willows that fill the capital."

In just twenty-eight characters, he amazed the entire audience.

Even the proctor couldn't help but glance at him again.

After the three exams were over, it was already dark.

The candidates dragged their weary bodies out of the examination hall, only to be met by Zhang San and a group of ruffians who were already blocking the entrance.

"Hey, young scholar Yun, how did the exam go? Hahaha, didn't you get a single question wrong?"

Yun Zhao patted the raindrops off his sleeves and said calmly, "It's alright."

Just as Zhang San was about to make another sarcastic remark, the gates of the examination hall suddenly opened again, and the old national advisor personally led a group of guards out, heading straight for Yun Zhao.

Everyone was startled, thinking that Yun Zhao had been caught cheating.

To everyone's surprise, the old imperial advisor suddenly knelt down, his voice trembling: "Young Master Yun! No, the top scholar! His Majesty has decreed that you be summoned to the palace immediately!"

The entire room fell silent.

Zhang San's mouth was so wide open it could fit a duck egg.

The old Imperial Advisor was so moved that tears streamed down his face: "The three classic texts are all classics; the policy essay, after His Majesty finished reading it, he exclaimed 'A genius for governing the country'; the poem 'Spring Rain', His Majesty said, is comparable to the poetic talent of the Tang Dynasty!"

"Yun Zhao, aged twenty, is the youngest top scholar in Baoxiang Kingdom in a hundred years!"