As the only eldest brother at home, Xu Mo had practically become a role model for his younger brothers and sisters all by himself, since the second brother Zheng Ruqian was not very reliable, and the third brother Fang Heng was not at home.
He observed propriety, was diligent and hardworking, dedicated and punctual. No matter when Xu Mo made an appointment, he would only arrive early, never late even once. Just yesterday, he also told Zheng Ruqian that after returning from the Imperial College, he would help look over the accounts for the past three days, and gradually analyze the passenger flow at the Tian Street Corner, as well as the types of pastries to focus on developing next.
However, it was already past dinner time, yet there was still no sign of Xu Mo.
Chang Yan was the first to stand up with a frown, "Eldest brother may have met with an accident."
Everyone else was shocked. Even Zheng Ruqian stopped worrying about the pastry shop's affairs, stuttering, "No... that can't be. Eldest brother goes to school every day, and the Imperial College is only a short trip away. What could have happened?"
Most importantly, this was Fengjing!
Not some remote Xieyang County, nor the understaffed Anshui Prefecture.
In Fengjing, there were more patrol guards than homeless children in Xieyang County. There were checkpoints everywhere, nearly one every three steps and five every checkpoint. Soldiers on horseback could be seen everywhere, and there were rows of pikemen guarding the gates.
Who would dare rob an Imperial College student, a distinguished top scholar, in broad daylight here?
Zheng Ruqian felt it was impossible.
Only Chang Yan solemnly said, "Why not? Fengjing has many senior officials and nobles. With them around, nothing is impossible."
Zheng Ruqian was silenced.
Next to them, Jiang Sheng and Wen Zhiyun also became nervous, saying in unison, "Let's go find Eldest Brother."
No matter what danger, they would face it together.
Zheng Ruqian and Chang Yan stood up at the same time. With his height and long legs, Zheng Ruqian rushed to the yard gate first, pulled open the wooden door, and vaguely saw a figure.
He was still shocked.
Behind him, Jiang Sheng screamed and rushed over, "Eldest Brother!"
It turned out to be Xu Mo. Well, everything was fine then.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, pulled Xu Mo over to the room in the moonlight.
At this time, when they lit the candles, the younger brothers and sister discovered that their Eldest Brother, usually as refined and transcendent as the moon, even when wearing plain cotton robes, was actually disheveled all over.
Not to mention the mud and dust smeared on his face, his clothes were also tattered, with his sleeve slashed open into strips, exposing the white cotton wadding inside.
"Eldest brother!" Jiang Sheng was nearly in tears, busying herself stripping Xu Mo's clothes.
The stunned man came to his senses, held down his sister's hands, and gently said, "I'm fine."
"Your clothes are torn, who knows if you have any wounds on your body." Zheng Ruqian also raised his voice, and ripped open his elder brother's cotton jacket in one go, revealing the fair skin underneath.
Thank heavens, although there were some red marks, there were no bloody gashes.
The younger siblings all heaved a sigh of relief.
Xu Mo's cheeks flushed slightly, and he angrily covered himself up again, complaining, "Younger brother, our sister has grown up!"
Being discreet and knowing propriety, being clothed and fed and knowing honor and disgrace. Although sharing a pastry as siblings was nothing much, baring one's skin should still be avoided in front of one's sister. After all, there were differences between men and women. They may be intimate, but they still had to observe boundaries.
Jiang Sheng next to them was still clueless about what was going on.
Xu Mo let out another sigh, rubbed her little bun head, "I'm fine, it's just that Zhu Sihuan gave me a message that shocked me too much."
Just yesterday, Zhu Sihuan had exchanged betrothal gifts and signed a marriage contract with the young lady from the Tao family.
According to their elders' customs, they were now betrothed man and woman, and could invite each other out and keep each other company.
Zhu Sihuan and Miss Tao could be considered childhood sweethearts, except Miss Tao was two years older than him, and had always seen him as a younger brother. It wasn't until they had set a wedding date for January next year that Miss Tao finally saw Zhu Sihuan as her husband-to-be, two years her junior.
That afternoon, the two were chatting idly on the street. Zhu Sihuan could not help but express his admiration for Miss Tao over the years, and promised that he would definitely pass the imperial examination in three years, so as not to let Miss Tao's family look down on him.
It was then that Miss Tao asked in surprise, "Hasn't the Zhu family tried to help you pass the imperial exam?"
"Help?" Zhu Sihuan was baffled.
What help?
The imperial exam was the fairest and most just exam. It was impossible to cheat, and there was no room for trickery.
Thanks to Miss Tao's sincere attitude after her silence, Zhu Sihuan finally realized that there was such a thing as guessing exam questions for the imperial exam.
Those who guessed the questions correctly and memorized the model answers beforehand could stand out and pass through the gates.
This would be considered normal, since everyone must have tried guessing exam questions before.
But the imperial exam not only had a Q&A section, but also lengthy essay topics.
Such essays usually did not have standard answers, nor could they be entirely memorized. One could only pick two most likely topics to come out, and vigorously write essays on them in the Imperial Examination Hall.
Some took the exams eight or nine times before passing. It could be due to lacking literary talent, or not guessing the right topics. They only managed to blindly succeed on their final attempt.
"But that's not too outrageous, is it?" Xu Mo was puzzled. "No matter if the essays were prepared beforehand or written impromptu in the exam hall, they were still written by that person, and represented that person's talent."
Being able to see a question you've written being used in the exam hall, that would be extremely lucky.
Zhu Sihuan smiled wryly and shook his head. "Brother Xu, you really think too highly of others. If everyone had to memorize model answers, would one with mediocre writing skills memorize his own work, or someone else's?"
If he could really write such good essays himself, why would he need to painstakingly memorize two essays before the exam? Could he not improvise, or make variations?
Xu Mo was no fool. These words struck him like thunder, washing away his traditional perceptions of the civil service exams, and showing him direction on his bewildered path forward.
After sabotaging Zhu Zhi's marriage plans, for a time he was unsure how to deal with Zhu Zhi, in order to avenge himself without implicating his siblings.
Zhu Sihuan's words opened up a new world for him, and steeled his resolve to wreck Zhu Zhi.
"Whether this works out or not, it can still weed out parasites hoping to leap into success through the civil service exams by guessing exam questions." Xu Mo said heavily. "If this first step does not work, then I will have no choice but to take the final step."
Zheng Ruqian, Jiang Sheng, Wen Zhiyun, Chang Yan - the four all fell silent.
They did not dare ask what Xu Mo's final step was. They could sense that it was likely a desperate measure Xu Mo was willing to stake his life on.
After a long pause, Chang Yan finally forced out a laugh to break the silence. "The Tao family already knows Zhu Zhi's status as imperial examinee may be illegitimate, yet they still demand that status to agree to a marriage proposal, being a pretentious and proud family themselves."
As it turns out, they really were pretentious.
Otherwise, they would not agree to let their Miss Tao be betrothed to Zhu Sihuan, still only a scholar, just for more cooperation and benefits between both families.
"No matter how pretentious, they are still a prominent family in Fengjing, and care about face." Xu Mo instead saw it from another angle. "Without the reputation of Scholar Sihuan, the Tao family would not agree to the engagement either."
Just like the Zhu family, who, despite knowing Zhu Zhi's imperial examinee status was likely fraudulently obtained, would still unhesitatingly abandon Zhu Zhi if the matter was exposed.
In the end, what prominent families valued most was reputation.
Xu Mo's mouth quirked up slightly, resolve and determination flashing through his eyes.
