Volume One: From Farmer to Official Chapter 40: Leveraging the Lightest Touch

Chu Liu rose slowly, gently swallowed the food in his mouth, then revealed a harmless and sincere smile, looking earnestly at Jin Ruizhe as he said, “Young Master Jin, do you perhaps misunderstand what it means to be favored? Everyone present has been invited here; who among us has not received the magistrate’s favor?”

With this, Chu Liu deftly shifted the meaning. Jin Ruizhe’s “favor” was meant to imply an improper relationship between Magistrate Chen and Chu Liu, but with these words, “favor” became a reference to scholarly talent.

In this way, he distanced himself from any suspicion of corruption, while also declaring that he was not here because of connections.

He had earned his place through his own efforts and did not wish to be wrongly resented.

“It is only right to toast the magistrate. If you ask me, everyone should join in. Those not yet of age can use tea instead of wine. Come, let us all toast the magistrate!”

A flash of surprise passed through Chen Liangbin’s eyes.

Had it been anyone else, they would have quarreled at being targeted so openly. Yet, Xie Shuxian remained calm and unhurried, resolving the crisis with a few understated words, subtly exposing Jin Ruizhe’s malicious intent to everyone present.

With just a gentle turn, he managed to shift a heavy weight, leaving Chen Liangbin secretly impressed.

“Student Su Biao, toasts the magistrate with tea instead of wine!” Su Biao stood, raising his teacup in support of Chu Liu.

“Student Qin Shiqi, toasts the magistrate.”

“We toast the magistrate!” Several others also raised their wine or tea cups.

Jin Ruizhe could only force himself to raise his cup. “Student toasts the magistrate, wishing you long-lasting fortune…”

Everyone thought the matter would pass without further incident, but Chu Liu suddenly fixed his gaze on Jin Ruizhe and said with concern, “Young Master Jin, drinking wine before coming of age is bad for your health, especially for your memory. We are all scholars; our studies should come first. Do not indulge in drink lightly. Otherwise, when the day comes that you cannot remember anything, you will regret your actions today…”

Seeing that all the other underage scholars held teacups, Jin Ruizhe also picked up a teacup. “Student toasts the magistrate with tea instead of wine.”

In the Dayan Dynasty, there was no rule forbidding the underaged from drinking, but a young scholar fond of wine would certainly be looked down upon. Especially with Magistrate Chen present, Jin Ruizhe put down his wine and picked up tea instead.

“Heh, when you drank earlier you looked so at ease, yet now, when toasting the magistrate, you switch to tea? What a pretender—not an honest man at all…” Su Biao rolled his eyes and put Jin Ruizhe on the spot.

Everyone knew he was standing up for Xie Shuxian.

Only now did Jin Ruizhe realize that no matter how he chose to toast, he would fall into the other’s trap.

Hmph!

He had to regain control of the scene.

Jin Ruizhe bowed and said, “Magistrate, these two are deliberately causing trouble. I’ve drunk wine at home and never felt my memory decline…”

With this clever shift, Jin Ruizhe redirected the conflict toward Chu Liu.

“You haven’t noticed your memory declining yet? That’s dangerous, very dangerous!” Chu Liu feigned shock, his brows full of concern. “You may not believe it, but let me give you an example. Before the preliminary examination, you declared with confidence that the top three in Qingzhou this year would be none other than you. See? Back then your memory was sharp, yet after four rounds, you failed to enter the top twenty each time—clearly because of the wine…”

Exposing an old wound is always painful.

The crowd suppressed their laughter, all eyes on Jin Ruizhe, waiting for his embarrassment.

“You… you…” Jin Ruizhe was furious.

He wanted to say there was no connection, but that would only contradict himself. He sweated profusely, unable to piece together a response.

“See, you can’t even remember your own words, yet claim your memory isn’t failing? Young Master Jin, don’t hide from the truth. Only by recognizing the problem can you find the right solution…”

At this, everyone finally burst out laughing.

Jin Ruizhe was drowned in a sea of laughter, utterly humiliated.

His eyes reddened, nearly choking with emotion as he trembled and pointed at Chu Liu, protesting, “Magistrate, Xie Shuxian is a sorcerer! Before the exams, he cursed my papers, and as a result, every time I sat for the exam, my paper was inexplicably stained… Please, magistrate, expel this sorcerer from the rolls forever, and never allow him to sit the exams again…”

Hearing this, Chen Liangbin’s eyes flashed with doubt. He looked at Chu Liu. “Oh? Is there truly such a strange occurrence?”

“Magistrate, he is unjustly accusing me…” Chu Liu recounted the events in detail, with Su Biao and Qin Shiqi testifying alongside him.

Jin Ruizhe’s attempt to slander was laid bare before the crowd.

Chen Liangbin stared coldly at Jin Ruizhe. “Is this the curse you speak of?”

“Magistrate, if it wasn’t a curse, how could my exam papers have been stained every time…”

Even when the truth was clear, Jin Ruizhe stubbornly clung to his story—until Chu Liu interjected, “You’re the only one who knew about the stains. Perhaps you were marking your papers yourself, pretending they were stained to avoid punishment…”

The hall fell instantly silent.

Marking one’s paper was cheating—if such a charge stuck, his path in the examinations would be forever sealed.

Of course, Chen Liangbin did not believe it; if Jin Ruizhe had cheated, his scores wouldn’t have been so poor.

Jin Ruizhe’s face changed dramatically, and tears fell at once.

“You malign me with false accusations! How can you slander others without any evidence…”

Chu Liu met Jin Ruizhe’s tearful gaze and calmly replied, “Did you have any proof when you slandered me?”

Jin Ruizhe had nothing to say, but he had to clear himself of the suspicion of cheating.

He wiped away his tears. “Magistrate, Xie Shuxian is cunning and deceitful. His claim that wine affects memory is a lie. I am willing to compete with him in memorization and expose his falsehood.”

Jin Ruizhe naively believed that if he proved Chu Liu’s statement false, then the suspicion of cheating would also be dismissed.

In truth, he was being unreasonable, for the two matters were not comparable.

Chen Liangbin was about to reprimand him, when Chu Liu eagerly agreed, “Let’s compete. Who’s afraid?”

Blessed with a remarkable memory, Chu Liu knew Jin Ruizhe was inviting his own humiliation.

“Are you sure?” Chen Liangbin asked.

“I’m sure!” they both replied.

Seeing their confidence, Chen Liangbin grew interested. After a moment’s thought, he said, “You are both scholars, and have likely memorized the Confucian classics. I shall give you a book you have not studied—let’s see who can memorize it the fastest. Steward, fetch the book from my desk.”

“Yes, sir!” The steward withdrew, soon returning with a book.

The crowd saw it was the “Shennong Materia Medica,” a medical classic—arcane and difficult, making the contest especially unusual.

Chen Liangbin placed the book on the table, opened it to a page. “I will open to a random page. The two of you must memorize and recite it. Remember—rely only on your eyes, do not touch the book, and do not interfere with each other. Is that clear?”

“Clear,” they replied.

Chen Liangbin smiled faintly, randomly flipped to a page, and steadied the book. “Begin.”

The two began to memorize quickly.

Chu Liu swiftly read through the page once, then closed his eyes and silently recited it.

After a short while, he opened his eyes. “Magistrate, I have memorized it.”