He obtained the God of All Laws from human skin.

Chapter 115 Fame, the Imperial Examination

Feng Shu walked quickly to the door, glancing back at the table before leaving to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Then he straightened his clothes and pushed open the door to enter the elegant room.

Fang Mingyuan was leaning against the soft couch, with two women on either side of him massaging his shoulders.

Seeing Feng Shu enter, he casually waved his hand, his face showing a hint of drunkenness: "Lord Feng, you've made excellent arrangements. I've been quite enjoying myself these past few days."

Upon hearing this, Feng Shu knew the time had come. He gave the women a wink, and they discreetly filed out, the last one gently closing the door behind them.

There were only two people left in the private room. Feng Shu stepped forward, took out the brocade box he had prepared earlier from his bosom, and handed it over with both hands. Underneath the brocade box was a stack of silver notes, which, at a rough glance, amounted to at least a thousand taels.

Fang Mingyuan didn't stand on ceremony. He took the brocade box, looked at the silver notes underneath, and the drunkenness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a knowing smile.

Just as he was about to put the item into his pocket, Feng Shu took out the slip of paper from his sleeve, presented it with both hands, and said in a low voice, "Lord Fang, there is one more thing. I hope you will take care of this person and make sure that he is not on the list."

Fang Mingyuan took the note, didn't even look at it, stuffed it into his sleeve, and said, "Haha, it's nothing, easy."

For him, getting someone on the list takes some effort, but getting someone off the list is much simpler.

As the date of the children's examination draws ever closer, Qinghe County is becoming increasingly lively.

Students from all directions gathered, filling all the inns, big and small, in the county to capacity. The teahouses and taverns also saw a surge in business. The streets were filled with young faces wearing long gowns and square scarves, and of course, there were also many strong martial artists in short shirts.

As Qin Chuan emerged from the academy, he looked at the scholars filling the streets and felt a sense of melancholy.

As he passed a tea stall, he happened to see a group of scholars arguing about something.

He listened from afar, thinking they were debating some kind of poetry or classical texts. But when he got closer, he realized they weren't arguing about the Four Books and Five Classics at all, but rather about the "beauty paintings" hanging in the main hall of Xiangmanlou.

"Have you all seen the painting of the beauty at Xiangmanlou? The woman in that painting is so lifelike, it's as if she's about to step off the paper." A scholar in a blue robe clicked his tongue, his face showing a hint of reminiscence and lingering enjoyment.

"Brother Liu, I saw it yesterday," a young student wearing a square scarf chimed in. "The woman in the painting is truly alluring. To be honest, in my opinion, even the famous courtesans along the Huai River might not be able to compare to the beauty in that painting."

"It's just a mere portrait of a beautiful woman; how can it compare to a famous courtesan? Brother Li, are you trying to deceive me?"

"Haha, Brother Wang, go and see for yourself. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

"Bah!" Just then, a voice broke in, tinged with righteous indignation, "Indecent and vile, utterly unbearable to look at! Scholars of such stature, instead of studying the ways of the sages, go and comment on such—such obscene things! It's utterly disgraceful! That painter depicted the woman so explicitly, clearly trying to arouse evil thoughts. We scholars should avoid it like the plague, how can we relish discussing it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, another voice immediately followed, carrying a hint of disdain: "Brother Kang, you speak so arrogantly, but yesterday I saw you drinking at Xiangmanlou, craning your neck to look at paintings for almost half an hour, and even forgot to drink your tea."

The scholar surnamed Kang's face stiffened, but his neck straightened even more: "I—I did that to criticize the painting! Yes, criticize! How can you criticize it without looking closely?"

"Criticize?" another voice chimed in, tinged with a mischievous chuckle. "Then why did I hear you asking Aunt Feng if that painting was for sale? You even said you'd spend a fortune to buy it back. What for? To hang it above your bed for criticism?"

A burst of laughter erupted at the tea stall, and even the unrelated tea drinkers at the nearby tables joined in the laughter.

The scholar surnamed Kang's face turned bright red, his lips trembled several times, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word. In the end, he could only turn away, covering his face with his sleeve.

Hearing these words, Qin Chuan felt somewhat helpless.

In Qinghe County, although the imperial examinations were approaching, the hot topic of conversation in the streets and alleys was not the examinations themselves, but the paintings of beauties at Xiangmanlou. It could be said that this had almost become common knowledge. The scholars verbally cursed that it was "disgraceful to literature," but their feet were more honest than anyone else's as they stepped into Xiangmanlou.

As for the painter "Xiaoxiaosheng", he was frequently mentioned and was respectfully called the "master of beauty paintings".

Qin Chuan never expected that he would become "famous" in such a strange way.

Upon arriving at Heaven on Earth, Qin Chuan had barely stepped inside when two figures from a short distance immediately rushed over. One of them was Sister Feng from Xiangmanlou, and the other was Sister Wu.

After the two surrounded Qin Chuan and chattered on for a while, Qin Chuan finally understood why they had come to him.

They all came for the painting of the beautiful woman by Xiaoxiaosheng.

Although Sister Feng had anticipated that the painting of the beauty would attract many scholars, she did not expect it to be so effective.

Nowadays, half of the people who come to Xiangmanlou are there because of the painting, and the other half are there because of Liu Rushi.

Moreover, in the time since the painting was hung up, nearly fifty or sixty people have come to ask her if she would sell the painting of the beauty. The price offered by each person has been higher than the last, from five taels and ten taels at the beginning to twenty taels and thirty taels now. If it weren't for the business of Xiangmanlou, she would really want to sell the painting.

The beauty portrait turned out so well that Sister Feng was filled with regret. She almost bruised her legs from taking so many pictures. Why did she try to save that little bit of money in the first place?

Ten taels it is. Just call all the girls from Xiangmanlou over and have Xiaoxiaosheng draw them one by one.

The reason they've come to Qin Chuan is naturally to get Xiao Xiaosheng to paint more portraits of beautiful women through him.

The situation was similar for Sister Wu. Many people knew through their own connections that the painting first appeared at Heaven on Earth, so they came to her asking her to help them contact Xiaoxiaosheng and ask him to paint a portrait of a beautiful woman.

Looking at the two, Qin Chuan honestly wanted to refuse. After all, the preliminary examination was imminent, and he wanted to study a little longer. Although he had upgraded to Iv4, he hadn't really mastered the Four Books and Five Classics.

However, Qin Chuan still asked as usual, "How much silver do I get for drawing a picture?"

Sister Feng and Sister Wu exchanged a glance, and then gave their answer.

In a room on the second floor of the Heaven and Earth Club, Qin Chuan was frantically drawing with a charcoal pencil. It wasn't that he didn't want to read, but he couldn't help it because they were giving him too much.

In a private room on the second floor of a hotel, Kang Wen turned over and over again, his mind filled with the pictures of beauties he had seen at Xiangmanlou during the day. The slightly upturned corners of the women's eyes and the curves that were faintly visible under their gauze dresses were like branded into his mind, impossible to erase.

"This is an insult to scholarship—it is truly an insult to scholarship—"

He muttered something under his breath, pulled the blanket over his head, and forced himself to close his eyes.

But the more you force it, the clearer the image becomes.

I don't know how much time passed, but finally, drowsiness washed over me like a tide.

In his dazed state, Kang Wen saw a figure, which looked like a woman.

She leaned against the window, wearing a gossamer-thin gauze dress, her hair half-undone, with a few strands of black hair hanging down her shoulders.

The face was the same face of the woman in the painting of the beauty at Xiangmanlou, the face that Kang Wen had been thinking about for most of the night. Then the woman spoke, "My lord!"

The next moment, Kang Wen pounced on the target without hesitation.

A few days later, the day of the children's examination finally arrived, and Qin Chuan dressed up carefully for the occasion.

Aunt Liu had prepared food for him, and the old teacher personally escorted him to the examination hall, carefully reminding him of the things he needed to pay attention to along the way.

When they arrived at the examination hall, the entrance was already crowded with people, all of whom were candidates for the preliminary examination.

Qin Chuan glanced over and recognized a few familiar figures. In the crowd not far away, Zheng Ding was surrounded by two maids, one adjusting his clothes and the other preparing things for the examination hall. On the high platform at the main entrance of the examination hall, County Magistrate Zhang Dajiang was accompanying several officials from the prefectural city to inspect the examination hall. One of them, wearing a blue official robe, had a thin and serious face. He was Fang Mingyuan, the prefectural city's education commissioner, who had been sent to preside over this children's examination.

Feng Shu followed behind Fang Mingyuan with his back bent, his face full of obsequiousness.

The examination process begins with a body search upon entry.

The constables lined up in two rows at the entrance of the examination hall and checked each candidate one by one. They loosened their clothes, searched through their books, and even broke open the dry rations they brought to make sure that no notes were hidden inside.

When it was Qin Chuan's turn, the yamen runner tore the food out of his bundle and searched his cuffs and collar to make sure there was nothing smuggled before waving him away.

Upon entering the examination hall, each person was assigned to a cramped cell, which was no more than three feet square. Inside, there was only a low table and a narrow stool, and the four walls were mottled and moldy.

Qin Chuan found his cell, sat down, placed his pen and ink on the table, and took a deep breath.

Before long, the gong sounded, the exam questions were distributed, and the entire examination room fell silent, with only the soft rustling of ink being ground and the occasional sound of paper being turned.

Qin Chuan scanned the exam questions from beginning to end, picked up his pen, and began to write on the answer sheet.

The county examination differs from the prefectural examination; it has fewer questions and only takes one day.

By evening, Qin Chuan had finally finished the exam and left the exam room.

Aunt Liu and the old teacher were already waiting under the tea stall opposite the examination hall.

As soon as Qin Chuan came out, Aunt Liu came up to greet him. Instead of asking how he did on the exam, she took out some still-steaming food and a small pot of water from her basket and put them in Qin Chuan's hands, saying, "Are you hungry? Have something to eat first."

After finishing their meal, Qin Chuan noticed their silence and couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you ask me how my exam went?"

The old scholar glanced at him and said indifferently, "The exam is over, what's the use of asking questions? If you answer well, I can't add anything more."

If you answer poorly, you can't rewrite a single word. Instead of worrying unnecessarily, it's better to wait until the results are released in three days; the truth will be clear in black and white.

On the other side, through another side door of the examination hall, Zheng Ding also emerged from the crowd.

Unlike the other candidates around him who looked ashen and walked with heavy steps, he walked briskly and had a smug and composed expression on his face. When he saw Zheng's mother waiting by the carriage in the distance, he smiled and went to greet her.

Zheng's mother quickly stepped forward, straightening his clothes as she asked in a low voice, "Ding'er, how did the exam go?"

Zheng Ding smiled confidently: "Mother, don't worry. I've already memorized those test questions perfectly and answered them all. Passing the imperial examination this time is a sure thing."