After Fang Jie entered the gates of the Martial Arts Academy, he discovered that this place was vastly different from what he had imagined. His strongest impression of Chang'an was its grandeur and magnificence. The imperial palace, Changchun Garden, and even the government offices were all built with immense scale and grandeur, mirroring the style of Chang'an, the most magnificent city of its time. The architecture evoked a sense of vastness and solemnity.
But the Martial Arts Academy was clearly different.
Entering the main gate, he wasn't greeted by towering, spacious buildings, but rather a garden. It was in the style of a Jiangnan water town, with small bridges, flowing water, and shady trees. There was even a small waterfall on the artificial hill directly opposite the entrance, and the misty air made breathing easier and more pleasant.
Fang Jie, leading his crimson horse, found the professor responsible for verifying identities by the small bridge. She was clearly a very refined person. She placed her desk on the side of the bridge, with the flowing water behind her. An unnamed, densely leafed tree shielded her from the sun, its layers of leaves preventing even a ray of light from penetrating. Most comforting was the aroma of brightly colored fruit hanging from its branches. Red, white, and black fish swam freely in the stream, occasionally leaping out of the water and creating tiny rainbows in the sunlight.
Xuanwu Street was bustling and noisy, but this noise vanished instantly upon entering the gates of the Martial Arts Academy. For some reason, the students immediately ceased their conversations, as if afraid to disturb the seemingly secluded tranquility of the courtyard. The candidates lined up, each presenting their nameplate to the female professor. The professor, without looking up, took the nameplate and crossed out the corresponding name in a thick notebook.
She seemed perfectly at peace with the quiet of the courtyard.
She hadn't uttered a single word throughout, quiet and serene. Like the cluster of roses in full bloom beside the bridge, she herself was part of the scenery. At first glance, the quiet person seemed even more beautiful, more elegant, than the quiet roses.
Because her head was bowed, Fang Jie couldn't see her face clearly. But judging from her smooth forehead, delicate nose, and rounded chin, this woman, while not extremely beautiful, was certainly not ugly. And even if she wasn't conventionally beautiful, her quiet and serene nature was endearing. This female professor was probably the type to describe a woman as gentle and graceful as water.
Fang Jie walked up to her, bowed, and greeted her, then took off his name tag and placed it on the table. The female professor took the tag, looked at it, found Fang Jie's name in a thick notebook, and then made a checkmark under the name with a brush.
This simple gesture surprised Fang Jie greatly.
The notebook was so thick, filled with the names of all the examinees from various cities and the military of the Sui Dynasty. Each page was densely covered with handwriting, and brief introductions were marked in even smaller characters. An ordinary person would likely forget the names they saw after flipping through a few pages. But this female professor merely glanced at Fang Jie's nameplate, then casually flipped through it and found Fang Jie's name in the thick notebook.
From the moment Fang Jie handed over his nameplate to the moment she ticked it off, less than three seconds had passed.
What an incredible memory!
Fang Jie couldn't help but marvel inwardly. In an instant, his respect for the professors at the Martial Arts Academy rose to a new level. Now he truly understood just how extraordinary the professors at the Martial Arts Academy were. If the professor Yan Qing who greeted guests at the entrance had only given him a good impression, then this female professor made him realize what it meant to be outmatched. He had always been quite confident in his memory, but compared to this female professor, he was utterly incompetent.
After retrieving his name tag, he said thank you and turned to leave.
"Wait."
Just as Fang Jie turned around, the female professor, who hadn't looked up or spoken, suddenly called out to him. Fang Jie looked at her, and his heart skipped a beat. This woman wasn't the kind of woman with breathtaking beauty, but her appearance seemed perfectly suited to her气质 (qi zhi - inherent quality/temperament). Oval face, fair skin. Rounded jaw, rounded earlobes, rounded cheeks—the first impression one had of such a face was one of four words:
Perfectly rounded and smooth.
But… Fang Jie's heart skipped a beat not because the woman's appearance was captivating, but because of her eyes.
This female professor's eyes had no black; that is, she had no pupils. Her eyes were white, entirely white. But not the lifeless white that sends chills down one's spine; rather, it was a white with a crystalline quality, like jade, yet jade wasn't as bright as her eyes. A sparkling, luminous white jade… no, it should be described as a crystal.
Brilliant and clear, Fang Jie had never imagined that someone's eyes, lacking irises, could be so beautiful and captivating.
Although her eyes appeared predominantly white, a faint golden ring encircled the iris, creating a distinct boundary, much like the clear black and white of an ordinary person's eye. Upon closer inspection, Fang Jie noticed three small, shimmering dots at regular intervals on the top, lower left, and lower right of her iris.
These eyes were like a beautiful universe, mesmerizing and enchanting.
After the female professor coughed lightly, Fang Jie realized his rudeness. He quickly lowered his head and asked, "May I ask what you require, sir?"
The female professor raised a hand to smooth a stray strand of hair from her forehead, seemingly unperturbed by Fang Jie's impolite stare. She pointed to Fang Jie's crimson horse and asked, "Since you insist on using your own warhorse, then this horse must be registered. Does this horse have a name? I need to record it."
Clearly, she, being inside the doorway, had also heard the commotion at the entrance earlier.
"A name?"
Fang Jie paused slightly, then realized he'd forgotten to name the crimson horse after acquiring it. After a moment's thought, he shook his head and answered the female professor truthfully, "It doesn't have a name yet. Please bestow one upon it, sir."
The female professor hadn't expected Fang Jie to ask her to name the warhorse. After a moment's hesitation, she stood up, slowly circled the crimson horse, and couldn't help but brighten her eyes: "No wonder you insisted on using your own horse. Even in the Martial Arts Academy, few can compare to this Frostblood Steed. Such an outstanding horse doesn't even have a name… what a pity."
Fang Jie blushed slightly, thinking, "Is your pity that the horse doesn't have a name, or that the horse belongs to a nobody like me?"
Upon hearing the words "Frostblood Steed," a student behind him couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.
"That guy… he actually owns a Frostblood Steed!"
Hearing this, the female professor shook her head slightly and said, "Not Frostblood, it's Frostblood."
But clearly, most people still didn't understand her meaning.
She didn't bother explaining further. After gently stroking the crimson horse's neck a few times, she said to Fang Jie, "Such a beautiful horse, how about naming it Ni Chang?"
"Ni Chang?"
Fang Jie was taken aback, scratching his head as he asked, "Isn't that a bit too delicate? It's a warhorse..."
The female professor was also taken aback, then asked with some annoyance, "Is this really your horse? It is a warhorse, that's true... but first of all, it's a mare."
...
...
Regardless of Fang Jie's wishes, the female professor with the distinctive eyes sat down behind her desk again, picked up a brush, and wrote the crimson horse's name in elegant handwriting after Fang Jie's name... Ni Chang. Thus, this seemingly imposing warhorse had a new name. And since the name was recorded in the Martial Arts Academy, there was no hope of changing it.
Fang Jie smiled awkwardly, thanked her, and led the horse away. He had only taken a few steps when he heard the female professor's gentle voice behind him again.
"My name is Qiu Yu, and I'm one of the examiners for this year's martial arts exam. I hope that in the exam... your performance won't disgrace this fine horse."
Fang Jie didn't speak or turn around, but nodded and continued walking.
Following the stone path, Fang Jie followed the examinees into the depths of the Martial Arts Academy. Only upon arriving did Fang Jie realize that the Martial Arts Academy wasn't actually that large. With thousands of examinees flooding in, the examination area in the back courtyard seemed rather crowded. Because of the sheer number of examinees, the Martial Arts Academy didn't have enough buildings for examination halls. Therefore, both the literary and martial arts exams were conducted on the training ground.
The first exam was for the five literary subjects, so Fang Jie entrusted Ni Chang to someone from the Martial Arts Academy for safekeeping. Then he found his seat on the training ground; his name was affixed to the desk. This familiar scene involuntarily reminded Fang Jie of his student days in his previous life, filled with constant exams.
The five literary subjects were mathematics, etiquette, music, geography, and strategy/military tactics.
Thousands of examinees were quickly guided to their seats by the staff of the Martial Arts Academy. The footsteps faded, and the scene fell silent.
To the north of the training ground was the Command Platform, a familiar arrangement to anyone with a military background. The Command Platform at the Martial Arts Academy was quite large, likely added temporarily for the examination. After Fang Jie sat down, the first thing he saw when looking towards the Command Platform was a yellow parasol, a symbol of supreme status.
The Emperor had come!
Although Fang Jie knew the Emperor valued the Martial Arts Academy examinations, he hadn't expected the Emperor to set aside his busy court affairs to attend in person. Seated in the center under the yellow parasol was Yang Yi, the current Emperor Tianyou of the Great Sui Dynasty. He wore the formal attire reserved for grand court assemblies, appearing dignified and solemn. Beside him, to his left sat Prince Yi, Yang Yin, and to his right sat Zhou Banchuan, the Dean of the Martial Arts Academy.
"The scale of the Martial Arts Academy's examinations grows larger each year, which greatly pleases me. I've said it before, the Great Sui Dynasty has never lacked talent. These students... are the pillars of the future court."
Yang Yi pointed to the densely packed students below and smiled, saying, "I heard that the Mongols, a few years ago, also tried to emulate our Martial Arts Academy, building a Martial Arts Hall and selecting young talents for examinations every three years. However, their attempt was a hodgepodge, reeking of counterfeit taste."
Upon hearing this, the officials beside him immediately burst into laughter.
The laughter from the reviewing stand didn't attract Fang Jie's attention, but the person sitting next to him gave him a headache. This person sat reclining in a chair, his arm resting on the table, chin propped up, not looking at the reviewing stand, but only at Fang Jie with a half-smile.
"Why are you here too..."
Fang Jie asked in a low voice.
The man chuckled but didn't answer. Her smile was so beautiful it was impossible to look away; the slightly narrowed eyes, curving gently, exuded a captivating charm. Indeed, this was a woman, and a very beautiful one at that, a woman Fang Jie recognized.
Wu Yinyu.
Fang Jie was genuinely surprised to see this young girl. He knew that Wu Yidao had recently sent this spoiled young lady to the Yiqi Temple on Qingle Mountain to study Taoism. Could it be that entering the Yiqi Temple meant she could also come to the Martial Arts Academy?
If Fang Jie knew how much silver Wu Yidao had paid to get her into the Martial Arts Academy, he wouldn't be so surprised.
Just as Fang Jie was pondering why Wu Yinyu was here, a professor from the Martial Arts Academy suddenly shouted, and all the examinees stood up, stepping forward to stand in the aisle. Fang Jie quickly rose as well, knowing that everyone had arrived and was about to pay their respects to His Majesty the Emperor. However, after everyone stood up, no one asked them to kneel and pay their respects.
In his astonishment, he saw the eunuch he had seen at Changchun Garden walk to the front of the reviewing stand with an imperial edict in hand. Unfolding the edict, he cleared his throat and began to read aloud.
The beginning of the edict was nothing more than the emperor's praise and congratulations to the students. Next came the affirmation and respect for the Martial Arts Academy; these words were nothing new. The writing was simple and unadorned, almost as if it were written in the emperor's own voice. At first, it didn't seem to affect him much, but the last few sentences sent a jolt through Fang Jie!
"Anyone who has purchased counterfeit exam papers for the Martial Arts Academy with a large sum of money shall step forward, disqualified from the Martial Arts Academy exams, stripped of their academic titles, and sent home to reflect on their actions! They shall be barred from holding office for five years. If they commit another offense, they will be permanently barred from employment. His Majesty, in his mercy, considering your first offense and that you are all talented individuals of the Sui Dynasty, and that his mind had occasionally strayed, has not been able to punish you too severely. He hopes you will reflect on your actions and remember his teachings."
In an instant, hundreds of people turned deathly pale. This includes Cui Lueshang.