Encountering an Old Acquaintance at the Examination Hall

Yunzhou was a superior prefecture.

It governed countless counties, townships, and villages.

Naturally, it had far more candidates than an ordinary prefecture, so the imperial examinations were generally held in the exceptionally spacious Yunzhou Prefectural Office.

The sun had only just risen.

Yet the broad courtyard was already packed with students as far as the eye could see, numbering well over ten thousand.

These students did not come from Yunzhou alone.

They had also arrived from its subordinate counties, townships, and villages.

Some had come on foot, some on horseback, and some by carriage. Fortunately, several thousand soldiers were on hand to maintain order. Candidates who had ridden horses or arrived by carriage were directed to designated stables and parking areas.

As for any students who refused to obey instructions and tried to cause trouble—

the soldiers showed them no mercy.

A resounding slap, a thorough beating, and they would be carried out on the spot, their examination qualification revoked.

Under such decisive measures,

the examination grounds remained orderly despite the enormous crowd.

Everything proceeded in perfect order.

The Great Xia had a relatively open culture. Among the candidates were not only male students, but quite a few female students as well.

Zhao Guizhen was one of them.

Sitting in her carriage, Zhao Guizhen had not slept well these past few days. She often lay awake in the middle of the night, all because of Yang An.

That name

clung to her like a nightmare.

Had her mother not woken her that morning, she might have overslept on such an important day as the provincial examination. Even when she arrived at the examination grounds and stepped down from the carriage, she was still absent-minded and dazed. Her foot slipped, and she nearly fell.

At that critical moment,

a warm hand caught her.

“Why are you so distracted, Zhen?”

At the sound of that familiar voice,

the gloom Yang An had cast over Zhao Guizhen's heart immediately lifted somewhat. She looked at the man in white before her in delighted surprise and asked softly, “Cui, what are you doing here? You are the governor's son. You do not need to take the imperial examinations to enter the Imperial Academy, do you?”

“With my talents, why would I need to rely on family connections to enter the Imperial Academy? Besides, I want to see you and me both make the list together.” Cui Wenyan gave a confident smile. Patting Zhao Guizhen's hand, he added, “But it has only been a few days. Why do you look so worn out, Zhen?”

Zhao Guizhen's expression stiffened slightly.

Cui Wenyan was the son of Cui Yuantu, the Governor of Yunzhou, and one of Yunzhou's most distinguished young gentlemen. His family background surpassed that of her own, the daughter of a seventh-rank official, by an immeasurable margin.

Zhao Guizhen had long hoped to marry into the Cui household.

Naturally, she could not tell Cui Wenyan that Yang An had kept her awake night after night. She merely said, “The weather has been turning hot and cold so often lately. I caught a chill by accident.”

“You truly are careless, Zhen.”

There was reproach in Cui Wenyan's voice, yet even as he spoke, he removed his brocade robe and draped it over Zhao Guizhen's shoulders. “Is that warmer?”

Zhao Guizhen looked at him with eyes full of gratitude.

It felt as though she were holding a brazier close to her heart, warm and comforting.

Yet when she wished to respond with a few tender words, for some reason, memories of her time with Yang An surfaced in her mind once more.

There had been one occasion.

It was midsummer, with the sun shining brightly, when a sudden downpour began. No one had brought an umbrella. Many of those traveling with them were drenched to the bone, yet she alone remained dry.

Because Yang An had draped his own robe over her.

Then he had run home through the rain himself.

At the time, she had despised that old, ugly robe. Yet now, recalling it, she found herself... herself actually feeling a trace of longing.

Zhao Guizhen clutched the luxurious brocade robe around her, standing there in a daze.

Seeing that she had said nothing for quite some time—

Cui Wenyan asked, “What’s wrong, Zhen?”

Only then did Zhao Guizhen come back to herself. Afraid that Cui Wenyan might see through her thoughts, she hurriedly took his left hand and said, “Let’s go, Cui. We need to enter the examination hall. We both have to do our best today.”

“That’s right. We both need to perform well. Once the examination is over, we’ll be students at the Imperial Academy. Then we’ll be able to see each other every day.”

Cui Wenyan revealed a warm, gentle smile.

Looking at that smile, Zhao Guizhen felt as if her heart had been illuminated. She obediently followed behind Cui Wenyan, gazing at his tall, graceful figure, straight as a jade tree, and thought:

Though Cui is not as handsome as Yang An, but…

Smack!

Zhao Guizhen slapped herself across the face.

She cursed herself furiously in her heart, her fists clenched tightly.

“How can you be thinking about Yang An again? Stop it!”

“Yang An is nothing but a down-and-out nobody! He’s poor and useless!”

“So what if he received a title?!”

“He’s only a First-Rank Goshi—just a little better off than an ordinary commoner! Can he even pass the examination for the Imperial Academy?”

“Does he even have a chance of entering the Imperial Academy to study?”

“After failing three times, he probably doesn’t even have the courage to sit for the imperial examinations anymore!”

“At most, he’ll spend his entire life as a minor clerk like his brother-in-law, Li Yan, muddling through his days!”

“Do you want to accompany him in that?”

“So what if he’s handsome? What good is it that he treats you well? Can he give you the life you want?”

“You haven’t made a mistake! You definitely haven’t made a mistake!”

After convincing herself, the confusion that had lingered in Zhao Guizhen’s eyes for the past two days gradually vanished. As she watched Cui Wenyan’s back, her expression slowly firmed.

She regained the composure and confidence she had always possessed.

Straightening her back, she walked among the several thousand examinees.

Already strikingly beautiful, she was especially eye-catching beneath the sunlight. Many people who saw her approaching stepped aside in shame, clearing a path, while others stood rooted to the spot, staring at her in a daze.

“Who is that woman? She’s gorgeous!”

“Gorgeous is an understatement. Anyone who can take the academy examination must come from an impressive family.”

“Look! The one with her is Cui Wenyan, the son of the Governor of Yunzhou! Perhaps she’ll marry into the Governor’s residence someday!”

“Stop staring. A heaven’s daughter like her lives in a world completely different from ours.”

Listening to the crowd’s discussions, Zhao Guizhen’s vanity was greatly satisfied. She was thoroughly pleased, and a reserved smile curled her cherry-red lips.

With everyone making way for them, she and Cui Wenyan reached the very front of the line. They presented their documents to the examiners and exchanged them for their seat numbers.

Although Yunzhou Prefecture was vast, the examinees had been divided into four examination compounds—A, B, C, and D—for ease of administration.

Zhao Guizhen and Cui Wenyan had both been assigned to Compound D.

After receiving their seat numbers from the examiner, they walked toward Compound D, chatting and laughing. Suddenly, Zhao Guizhen heard a young woman beside her cover her lips and exclaim in a hushed voice:

“Wow, that young man is so handsome! Broad shoulders, a slender waist, and such clear, refined features. I’ve never seen anyone so good-looking! Ah! I think he just smiled at me!”

“Nonsense! He was obviously smiling at me!”

“What family is he from? Could he be the son of some great clan?”

Zhao Guizhen followed their gazes curiously.

By coincidence, she saw the man walk past her with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

She had seen only the side of his face.

The smile vanished from her fair face in an instant, and her delicate body tensed along with it. All the composure she had maintained while walking with Cui Wenyan disappeared without a trace.

She knew that, with Cui Wenyan there,

she should have ignored that man and drawn a clear line between them.

But for some reason,

at this moment,

her body reacted before her thoughts could catch up.

Before the man in black could walk away,

Zhao Guizhen could not help turning around and calling softly, “Yang An?”

Yang An had just received his examination number after exchanging the document in his hand with the examiner.

He was striding toward the examination hall,

when he suddenly heard someone call his name from behind.

Yang An instinctively turned around and saw that the caller was a young woman.

She had an oval face and almond-shaped eyes, and wore a water-blue padded jacket.

She was quite pretty.

She was probably one or two-tenths as attractive as the Dog Woman.

A young man followed beside her, dressed all in white and possessing a rather delicate, handsome appearance.

The two of them looked quite well matched.

They also seemed rather familiar, as though he had seen them somewhere before. Unable to remember who they were, Yang An met Zhao Guizhen’s puzzled gaze and asked, “May I ask who you are, miss?”

Who you are?

Those three words.

They were colder than the biting wind.

Like an icy blade that pierced straight to the bone, they not only cut through Zhao Guizhen’s skin but also pierced her heart. A tearing pain rising from her chest wrenched at her entire body.

Zhao Guizhen’s lips turned pale as she stared blankly at Yang An.

She couldn’t believe that Yang An no longer remembered her.

It had only been a few days!

How could he possibly have forgotten her already? He must be pretending!

He absolutely had to be pretending!

Zhao Guizhen desperately wanted to find hatred on Yang An’s face.

Anger.

Sorrow.

But after searching his expression, she found none of them.

The only thing Zhao Guizhen could see was distance.

The distance one reserved for a stranger.