In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1196 - 1108: Add Fragrance to Red Sleeves

Chapter 1196: Chapter 1108: Add Fragrance to Red Sleeves

He still remembered the day he had brought the drunken Xue Qian back to his residence, only to find out that his mentor had paid an unexpected visit, prompting him to hastily head to Leaning Against the Sky Building.

Naturally, his mentor, who was also an academician at Yingtian Academy, inquired about his performance in the Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination and how he felt about his own efforts.

Su Ke did not conceal anything and briefly explained how he had approached and answered the questions that day.

The academician nodded repeatedly and, upon hearing about Su Ke’s "Essay on Five Colors," became even more interested, asking him to recite the full text from memory. Although Su Ke did not understand why, he did not hesitate to present his draft for his mentor’s inspection.

After reading, the academician sighed and nodded, "Your piece is well-conceived with a beautiful and eloquent rhyme, and the language is splendid and magnificent. It is indeed an excellent work. Without any surprises, it shall surely stand out among the students. Your name will undoubtedly be on the Apricot List."

Receiving such high praise from his mentor, Su Ke was naturally overjoyed and thanked him profusely.

"If I achieve high honors, it would be largely due to my mentor’s good words," he said.

"Ah, what talk of the mentor’s contribution. It’s also because you were willing to learn and put in the effort. Should you be fortunate enough to enter officialdom, it is only right that you stay disciplined and selfless, and do not forget these sincere words of mine today," his mentor replied.

"I shall certainly bear it in mind," Su Ke promised.

After thanking his mentor, Su Ke joined him for a few more drinks, and, tipsy once again, ended up being carried back to his residence by the page boy, Little Shitou.

Compared to Su Ke’s recent smooth-sailing days, Xue Qian had been having a tough time.

Since finding out he had no chance of achieving high honors, Xue Qian had fallen into a period of dejection until one day, he suddenly seemed to come back to life.

Seeing Su Ke frequently lost in thought, Xue Qian couldn’t help feeling a bit sour.

He teased him oddly, "What use is there in stretching your neck so long? If you’re on the list, you will be, whether you check or not. If you’re not on there, even if you twist your neck into a giraffe’s, it won’t make any difference. Are you behaving like this to intentionally make a fool of your brother?"

Su Ke, who had been looking outside, withdrew his gaze, glanced at Xue Qian, and then continued to look out the window.

"This elegant room is just for drinking a couple of cups of bitter refreshment, and it actually costs ten taels of silver a day, ten taels! Isn’t it all for the sake of finding out the results as early as possible? With such good conditions, why shouldn’t I take advantage? It’s not like I’m a fool."

As he spoke, he disdainfully glanced at Xue Qian.

Xue Qian felt even more uncomfortable, poking at the braised pork in his bowl with his chopsticks.

"Alright then, tone it down a bit, will you? Can’t you see you’ve broken this young master’s little heart? Don’t you think you should at least console your foolish brother?"

"Seeing how well you eat and sleep, do you need my consolation? I think you don’t need my consolation, what you need is the comfort of the top courtesan in Wentao Pavilion. That girl has been pining for you, and I’m sure with just one word from you, she would willingly give herself to you, to live and breathe as one," Su Ke said casually without even turning his head.

The courtesan contest had concluded, and it was said that this year, the girls of Wentao Pavilion had failed to win the title, with an unknown establishment unexpectedly taking the crown.

Unfortunately, neither Su Ke nor Xue Qian was in the mood to patronize such events, only hearing the final outcomes from others.

In past years, the competition for the title of top courtesan always coincided with the Imperial Court’s Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination, holding its selection every three years. Due to the chaos of the previous two years, the Imperial Court had held the Autumn Imperial Civil Service Examination, but had yet to hold the Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination, causing complete disarray within the country. By the Jiantai Era founding year, His Majesty had opened the Beneficent Examination, bringing a large number of students to the Capital City, each vying to serve the nation.

The influx of numerous students naturally led to unprecedented prosperity within Shengjing City.

And the competition for the title of top courtesan, traditionally seen as "Add Fragrance to Red Sleeves" for the literati, naturally also came into being with the opportunity presented by the Spring Examination.

Indeed, the preliminary selection for the courtesan competition had already commenced in February, and the final showdown usually came close to the posting of the Apricot List. Otherwise, how could one speak of "Add Fragrance to Red Sleeves"?

Wentao Pavilion had been the reigning champion for years, having seized the top position in six consecutive tournaments, and this year they were brimming with confidence. They aimed to take advantage of this heaven-sent opportunity to make a fortune, but fate played a medium-sized joke on Wentao Pavilion.

An unforeseen Cheng Yaojin appeared on the scene. A small flower building had brought only two contenders, yet unexpectedly, one of them became a dark horse, breezing into the finals to capture the title. Watching the fat meat that should have been theirs getting snatched away, the old bustard of Wentao Pavilion cursed loudly and broke into a fierce argument on the spot.

But in the end, it was to no avail.

"You really have a knack for bringing up the most inconvenient subjects. You’re not unaware of my family’s situation," he said.

Xue Qian replied bitterly, almost grinding his teeth, "That stubborn old man, my father, if he knew I had the intention of buying her freedom, wouldn’t he break these dog legs of mine? For the sake of my life, better forget it."

"Serves you right! Hahaha..."

Su Ke couldn’t help but laugh out loud, taking pleasure in Xue Qian’s misfortune.

It’s no wonder he laughed; the last time their mentor made a visit, Su Ke hurried over. Coincidentally, the mentor had also asked Xue Qian to come. However, Xue Qian was in a bad mood that day and got drunk, failing to attend. By the time he sobered up, it was the afternoon of the next day. He rushed to their mentor’s place only after learning about the visit from the servants and inevitably suffered a scolding. Furthermore, when he learned that he even reviewed the wrong question, he was berated to the point of humiliation, and he could not calm his anger for a long while.

Thus, the subsequent two times he encountered Xue Qian, the latter wore a look that was neither here nor there.

So now, hearing Xue Qian speak of considering his life, Su Ke couldn’t help but laugh.

"Laugh, laugh it up, you cowardly melon," Xue Qian retorted with a huff as he stuffed a slice of beef into his mouth, chewing vigorously as if he were eating Su Ke’s flesh, "Speaking of getting scolded, isn’t it all because you didn’t help me with the drinking? If you hadn’t told me that I got the answer wrong, none of the later drunken debacle would have happened, let alone missing the mentor’s summons."

The academician at Yingtian Academy was both his and Su Ke’s mentor, and to him, also his uncle. His father, Hanlin Imperial Academy’s Grand Scholar Xue, was good friends with the academician, who took it upon himself, out of respect for Lord Xue, to teach Xue Qian. Unfortunately, Xue Qian had not even reviewed the question correctly, which brought great shame to the academician, leaving him no face to show to Xue Qian.

"How can you blame that on me? If I hadn’t made you drink that day, you probably would have knocked me to the ground..."

"Wasn’t it you who ended up on the ground? When was it ever me?"

Su Ke blinked innocently.

Caught off guard, Xue Qian found himself unable to respond for a long time, then burst into laughter, "You always love to quibble over words. But, my foolish brother, I do enjoy talking to someone as forthright as you. Haha..."

"Really forthright?"

Su Ke chuckled foolishly, picked up his refreshment, and took a gentle sip, "I heard that Cui Minghao fell from his horse at the horse field on the outskirts of the city’s west two days ago. Although he didn’t sustain any serious injuries, he suffered numerous scrapes, and even his forehead bears a wound that’s neither large nor small." He concluded, then slightly lifted his gaze, giving Xue Qian a meaningful side glance with the corner of his eye.