Chapter 6

Fang Yun let out a soft sigh.

The Fang Yun from before had a rather average memory, and since he only attended the private school in the morning and worked as a waiter in a tavern from noon onwards, he learned and memorized very little. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be very difficult for that Fang Yun to pass the examination for the rank of Tongsheng (child scholar).

Fang Yun had learned a lot on Earth, but he hadn't studied these things at all.

Fang Yun, lost in thought, hoped that the extra memories would help him. He then took the inkstone, ink stick, paper, and brush to the table.

Everything else was standard, except for the two paperweights used to hold down the paper, which were rather simple. Everyone else's paperweights were specially carved from jade, metal, or rare wood, but his paperweights were just stones that Yang Yuhuan had picked up from the riverbank and slowly polished into two-inch-wide, chopstick-length green stone objects.

The previous Fang Yun always felt a bit embarrassed when using these paperweights, thinking they were embarrassing, but Fang Yun really liked these simple paperweights because they represented Yang Yuhuan's heart.

Fang Yun laid out the first examination paper, placed the paperweights at the top of the page, glanced at the first question, and then poured water into the inkstone, holding the ink stick to grind the ink slowly.

Fang Yun thought and ground the ink, but he had no idea about the first question.

"During the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, where was Confucius? How would I know! This is the first question, and according to my past experience, it should be the easiest." Fang Yun grumbled inwardly, racking his brain but coming up with nothing.

After grinding the ink, Fang Yun selected a small goat-hair brush, dipped it in the ink, and then put it back. He placed a wool felt under the examination paper to absorb the ink, preventing it from seeping through and affecting the paper.

Fang Yun picked up the brush, glanced at the first question with a reluctant look, confirmed that he didn't know the answer, and was about to look at the second question when a cover of an ancient book suddenly appeared in his mind.

"The Records of the Grand Historian."

Then, the book automatically flipped to "The Seventeenth Chapter: The House of Confucius," and Fang Yun was overjoyed. However, the entire page suddenly became blurry.

Fang Yun's heart skipped a beat, sensing that something was about to happen. Suddenly, some memory fragments appeared in his mind, flying into "The Records of the Grand Historian." The "Seventeenth Chapter: The House of Confucius" quickly transformed into "The Fifth Chapter: The Biography of Confucius the Sage." The content of the "Biography of Confucius the Sage" was much more extensive than that of the "House of Confucius."

Fang Yun was stunned but quickly understood.

"The Records of the Grand Historian" consists of twelve Chronicles, eight Treatises, ten Tables, thirty Hereditary Houses, and seventy Biographies, each with different content.

Among them, the "Chronicles" are placed at the beginning, serving as the outline of the entire book, recording the most important emperors and dynasties, such as the "Chronicle of the Xia Dynasty" and the "Chronicle of the Qin Dynasty."

The "Hereditary Houses" record the deeds of feudal lords and particularly important figures, ranking second to the Chronicles.

In the "Records of the Grand Historian" on Earth, Confucius is only in the "Hereditary Houses."

However, Confucius in the Holy Yuan Continent is not the same as Confucius on Earth. His status and actual role surpass any emperor in the "Chronicles." Therefore, in this "Records of the Grand Historian," there is no "House of Confucius," only the "Biography of Confucius the Sage," placed between the "Chronicle of the Zhou Dynasty" and the "Chronicle of the Qin Dynasty."

In the Holy Yuan Continent, the author of "The Records of the Grand Historian," Sima Qian, is a semi-sage, known as the "Sage of History," and is a representative figure in historiography. Writing about his book is also considered invoking the words of a sage.

The text of the "Fifth Chapter: The Biography of Confucius the Sage" became clear, with dense black characters. In the blink of an eye, some of the characters turned golden.

Fang Yun sighed in relief after reading these golden characters, as they were the sentences related to the question.

Fang Yun read them carefully again, thinking that the question setter was indeed cunning. The first question had a small trap. The question asked where Confucius was that year, but in reality, Confucius returned from the State of Qi to the State of Lu that year, not staying in one place.

This was not the end. One book after another appeared in Fang Yun's mind. The first was "The Commentary of Zuo," which flipped to the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, with golden characters describing a Wu official named Ji Li on a diplomatic mission to the State of Jin.

The second was "The Book of Rites," which flipped to "The Lower Part of Tan Gong," describing how Ji Li, while in the State of Qi, lost his eldest son, who was buried between Ying and Bo in the State of Wu. Confucius attended the funeral, but this "Book of Rites" did not specify the time of the funeral.

Fang Yun was confused. Since these two books appeared one after another, they must be related to the question, but from the surface, it was impossible to determine whether the funeral took place in the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, and thus whether Confucius went to the State of Wu that year.

As Fang Yun hesitated, various books appeared one by one, including "The Examination of the Customs of the Villages," "The Examination of the Authenticity of the Zhu and Si," "The Examination of Confucius' Return from Qi to Lu," and "The Family Sayings of Confucius," with golden characters floating.

Fang Yun read these books carefully. The golden characters confirmed that Ji Li went on a diplomatic mission to Jin and returned, and his eldest son died while he was passing through the State of Qi, thus determining the time of his eldest son's death.

Since Confucius attended this funeral, it meant that in the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, he was not only in the States of Qi and Lu but also in the State of Wu.

Even with the help of various books, Fang Yun almost got confused. At first, he thought this question had no practical significance, but upon further reflection, he realized that this question was a comprehensive test of literature, including history, geography, and other classics. Even the most outstanding scholars would find it difficult to answer correctly.

Fang Yun picked up the brush and wrote down the golden characters.

"Lu was in turmoil, and Confucius went to Qi. In the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhao, the Qi officials wanted to harm Confucius, so he left and returned to Lu. Ji Li of Yanling went to Qi, and his eldest son died, buried between Ying and Bo. Confucius said, 'Ji Li of Yanling is a man of Wu who is well-versed in propriety. I will go and observe his funeral.'"

The three places—Qi, Lu, and Wu—were all mentioned.

After answering the first question, Fang Yun looked at his not particularly neat handwriting and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"This examination for the rank of Tongsheng is too difficult!"

After complaining inwardly, Fang Yun noticed that the books in his mind had disappeared. He couldn't help but speculate about their origin.

"I vaguely remember that when the library caught fire and I jumped from the building, the dragon-shaped jade pendant I was wearing broke, and then I don't remember anything. These books couldn't have appeared in my mind out of nowhere; they must be from the Dongjiang Library. Mother said this jade pendant was left by Father and that I must wear it, saying it would protect me. Could it be that I was really reborn because of the jade pendant?"

Fang Yun thought for a moment and then focused on answering the second question.

The second question asked when the phrase "I am greatly ashamed before Mencius" was said by King Xuan of Qi. Books immediately appeared, and Fang Yun quickly wrote down: the third year of King Nan of Zhou.

Fang Yun's brush moved swiftly, and he answered several questions in a row. He realized that except for the first question, the other questions were not difficult, so he relaxed.

Fang Yun adjusted his mood, slowed down, and began to write carefully, knowing that there was also a "neatness score." If the handwriting was too poor, even if the answers were correct, the score would be lowered.

Neither of the two Fang Yuns had particularly good calligraphy, but it was too late to practice now. He could only focus on passing the examination for the rank of Tongsheng.

When he reached the fourteenth question, Fang Yun looked at the examination paper and did not immediately write. His greatest fear had come true!

This was the Holy Yuan Continent, not Earth.

Here, the sages included not only those with the same names as on Earth but also semi-sages who never appeared in ancient China. The Dongjiang Library could not possibly have the works of these people.

There was an unwritten rule for the examinations for the ranks of Tongsheng and Xiusheng.

The Xiusheng examination had many questions involving the words of the sages, ensuring that the works of each sage were tested. However, the Tongsheng examination was different.

Although the Tongsheng examination had thirty papers, the characters were larger, so the actual content was less than expected. It could only test a limited number of questions, but there were many sages.

Confucius and the six sub-sages had a transcendent status and should occupy at least half of the questions. The works of the semi-sages who led the Hundred Schools of Thought were also mandatory to test, otherwise, it would not reflect the unification of the Hundred Schools under Confucianism, or in Earth terms, "united front" or "political correctness."

The works of several historically significant semi-sages, such as Dong Zhongshu's unification, Zhuge Liang's dedication, and Tao Yuanming's poetry, were also mandatory.

This left very little space for the works of other semi-sages.

Thus, a rule was formed, dividing the questions for the Tongsheng examination into three parts.

The first part was the famous sages who were tested every year.

The second part was the famous works of the three examiners.

The third part was three to five works selected from the remaining semi-sages, rotating each year.

Fang Yun was lucky because, except for the three semi-sage examiners, the works of the sages tested in this year's Tongsheng examination had all appeared on Earth and were collected in the Dongjiang Library.

Before the Tongsheng examination, once the names of the semi-sage examiners were determined, candidates from all over would spend a lot of time memorizing the famous works of the examiners.

The questions from other sages could be difficult or easy, but the questions from the semi-sage examiners were particularly easy.

Because living semi-sages were new sages with unstable foundations and needed to establish their literary reputation, they would want everyone to know their masterpieces.

"In Earth terms, these are bonus questions. The scholars are grateful, and the new sages' literary reputation spreads, a win-win situation."

Fang Yun thought carefully and relaxed, as he had started memorizing the famous works of the three semi-sage examiners the previous month.

The fourteenth question was simple, asking about the time and place of the enshrinement of a semi-sage named Mi Fengdian. Although Fang Yun couldn't immediately recall it, he felt he definitely remembered it.

Mi Fengdian was one of the three semi-sage examiners for this year's Tongsheng examination, and his name had already spread throughout the land before the exam.

Fang Yun thought for a moment and wrote: the 145th year of the new calendar, autumn, the State of Shu, Shudu.

After answering, Fang Yun suddenly noticed a blue-gray blank ancient book appearing in his mind, followed by a small memory fragment flying into it.

The blank ancient book immediately turned into "The Five Classics Commentary of Fengdian" (Volume 1), authored by Mi Fengdian, a semi-sage, enshrined for 56 years.

Then, more blank ancient books appeared, extracting Fang Yun's memory fragments to form several collections of Mi Fengdian's writings and poetry, totaling five volumes, none of which were complete, either having only one volume or being fragments.

Fang Yun's face showed a smile, as he hadn't expected this to happen.

"I don't know what this is, but since it can contain a large number of books and absorb new ones, let's call it 'The World of Strange Books.'"

The next question was also about a semi-sage from the State of Shu, Zhuge Liang, who had already passed away.

Zhuge Liang's experiences were different in different worlds, so Fang Yun spent some time thinking to avoid answering incorrectly.

Liu Bei established his state as "Han," claiming to be the legitimate successor of the Han dynasty, and never called it "Shu." However, others did not recognize it and referred to it as "Shu" with a derogatory connotation, a term later adopted by later generations.

In the Holy Yuan Continent, Liu Bei also established his state as "Han," aiming to inherit the Han dynasty and unify the Holy Yuan Continent. However, he faced opposition from the Eastern Wu and Wei states and was forced to change the state name to "Shu." It was ultimately maintained by the semi-sage Zhuge Liang and became one of the ten states.

With the "World of Strange Books," Fang Yun had a deeper understanding of Zhuge Liang from Earth.

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