Who Said a Study Servant Can’t Win the Imperial Exam?

Pei Family’s Clan School.

“Brothers, let’s head home and keep working!”

Seeing Wu Qinglan’s reaction, Pei Jian was brimming with pride. If he had a tail, it would surely be wagging high in the air by now. The other three Young Masters wore equally smug expressions.

Wu Qinglan, clutching the first half of the Storybook, was hooked and anxiously urged, “Make sure you write well at home, hurry up and finish it. Bring it to me as soon as it’s done… ahem, so I can help you refine it. Understood?!”

Pei Jian didn’t respond immediately. Zhuang Jin, standing beside him, played it cool, “We’ll see. After all, we’re usually quite busy with our studies.”

Teacher Wu was so exasperated he nearly spat blood. He raised the manuscript as if to throw it at Zhuang Jin’s head. Zhuang Jin dodged like a slippery eel, making a face at him, “Old man, you used to call us Rotten Wood! Now you see how amazing we are!”

The feeling of astonishing the Teacher was truly exhilarating!

Wu Qinglan blushed at the remark. He was indeed captivated by “The Legend of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit.”

The four Young Masters, seeing this, left with laughter, shoulders linked in camaraderie. After a few steps, Pei Jian wondered aloud, “Hey? Where’s Xian?”

“Coming!” Cui Xian replied from a distance, jogging over with a smile.

Watching the four Young Masters leave, Wu Qinglan continued to savor the story of Hero Rainbow Cat. The more he thought about it, the more brilliant it seemed. Unable to resist, he continued reading the manuscript as he walked towards the Inner Room.

On the way to the Inner Room, Teacher Wu happened to pass by Cui Xian.

Cui Xian greeted him, “Hello, Teacher!”

This boy seemed to be Pei Jian’s Study Servant. Wu Qinglan nodded politely, though his mind was still absorbed in the story, leaving him somewhat distracted.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cui Xian join Pei Jian and the others. The group walked away with smug expressions, and their conversation drifted back to him.

“Xian, you should’ve seen the Teacher’s face while reading the Storybook-so animated, sometimes excited, sometimes worried. It was quite a sight!”

“And when he realized it was only half done, he got so anxious, hahaha!”

“Who would’ve thought the stern Teacher would enjoy Storybooks? Suddenly, he doesn’t seem so annoying.”

Hearing this, Wu Qinglan twitched his lips. Those four little rascals were getting so cocky!

And who said a Teacher can’t enjoy Storybooks?

Wu Qinglan grew up in poverty. Being able to read was already a luxury, so there was neither money nor time for Storybooks. Later, he successfully became a Scholar Candidate, hoping to achieve great things in the imperial examination.

But he never managed to pass the exams for years. To support his family, Wu Qinglan had to give up the exams and, at the invitation of the Pei Family, became a Teacher at the clan school.

As a Teacher, without the constant pressure of the imperial examination, he finally had the leisure to enjoy Storybooks. Perhaps it was a way to compensate for his childhood self?

Moreover, under Wu Qinglan’s guidance, the Study Servants and attendants at the school were allowed to practice writing in the Inner Room. He would offer them guidance.

This was because, as a child, Teacher Wu lacked proper instruction. Now, as a Teacher, Wu Qinglan instinctively offered more care and guidance to students from humble backgrounds.

He was teaching and nurturing others, while also teaching the young, confused version of himself who once studied alone in a simple hut, seeking answers.

Wu Qinglan sat down at the desk in the Inner Room. His fondness for “The Legend of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit” was so intense that he couldn’t resist flipping through it again as soon as he sat down. As he read, he pondered how he might polish the clumsy writing style. Such a great story, wasted on poor writing!

He was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice a new piece of calligraphy quietly added to his desk today. It was buried beneath the thick stack of storybook manuscripts he had brought with him.

“The Rainbow Sword, truly magnificent!” “That Black Heart Tiger, thinking he could drink Qilin’s blood, what a fool!” Even on the second read-through, Wu Qinglan was utterly captivated. With no students around, he didn’t have to hold back, and he read with animated commentary.

The manuscript pages dwindled one by one. Realizing this, Wu Qinglan instinctively slowed down, trying to savor each page. But frustratingly, the manuscript was soon finished, and there was still no continuation! It was maddening!

Finally reaching the last page, Wu Qinglan reluctantly picked it up, thinking this would be the end. Bracing himself, he lowered his head to read.

And then-

Wu Qinglan let out a gasp, trembling as he picked up the ‘manuscript’ and stood up abruptly! Because that last page wasn’t a ‘manuscript’-it was a piece of calligraphy! A familiar handwriting!

Unlike the crude, scribble-like handwriting of Pei Jian and the others, this calligraphy was-how to put it-how to put it! Oh my!

Teacher Wu’s face flushed with excitement as he held the calligraphy with trembling hands, unable to utter a complete sentence. The calligraphy was a letter, and it read:

“Long time no see, I hope you are well, Teacher!” “Over a month ago, I dared to come to the Inner Room to practice writing. Thanks to your guidance, I began my formal studies in writing, for which I am immensely grateful.” “Looking back now, the calligraphy I first attempted was truly unsightly; your critique was entirely justified.” “I will practice diligently in the future! I hope you will not disdain my efforts.”

Teacher Wu felt anything but disdain. Instead, he was nearly overwhelmed with guilt and self-reproach! To think that the calligraphy he had criticized as “Rotten wood cannot be carved” was the person’s first attempt at writing, their ‘begin formal studies’ piece?

And by the next day, this person could mimic the critique’s brushwork of “Rotten wood cannot be carved”?! Now, nearly a month later, the person who had vanished had returned!

This time, the handwriting on the letter still seemed vaguely familiar, yet it had undergone a tremendous transformation, a qualitative leap from before!

It was evident that the person holding the pen lacked wrist strength, likely having just started practicing calligraphy.

Well, that’s obvious!

They’ve only been practicing for a month!

But-

It doesn’t matter. A lack of wrist strength can be overcome with diligent practice, but innate talent is something that others might never catch up to, even if they dedicate their entire lives to it!

The brilliance of this piece lay in its intention, its momentum, its rhythm, and most importantly, the fusion of form and spirit!

The horizontal strokes were like clouds stretching across a thousand miles; the dots, like stones falling from a high peak.

The slants, like a rhino charging across the land; the bends, like a powerful crossbow being released.

The vertical strokes, like ancient vines; the downward strokes, like crashing waves and rolling thunder.

The hooked strokes, like the joints of a taut crossbow!

Even the structure of the characters had a beauty of fluidity and freedom. The lines were a perfect balance of thick and thin, the ink was applied with the right intensity, full of rhythm and harmony!

What amazed Wu Qinglan the most was the artistic conception within the letter!

Graceful and unrestrained, full of scholarly spirit!

The calligraphy style of the Saint of Calligraphy, Wang Xizhi, had descended powerfully into this era with Cui Xian.

As a result, Wu Qinglan was left speechless with shock.

“A genius of the ages… a genius of the ages!”

Wu Qinglan murmured to himself, overwhelmed with excitement.

What was even more astonishing was that this person had achieved such remarkable calligraphy in just… one month?!

One month!!

The most shocking part was that after reading Wu Qinglan’s comment of “Rotten wood cannot be carved,” this person might very well have mistakenly thought of themselves as a “mediocrity”!

Thinking of this.

Wu Qinglan hurriedly took out the letter where he had previously written “Rotten wood cannot be carved,” his expression one of despair.

He couldn’t even empathize with his past self from a month ago.

If he could turn back time, he wished he could go back a month and give himself a good thrashing!

It’s over, all over!

The owner of this letter, with diligent practice, might one day become a “Saint on the spot,” “immortalized in history”!

And he, Wu Qinglan, would be notoriously recorded in history-

“For labeling the young Saint of Calligraphy as ‘Rotten wood cannot be carved,’ nearly becoming the greatest sinner in the history of human calligraphy.”

Those historians with a penchant for drama loved to write such things!

But, that’s not important.

What’s important is to find this “genius of the ages” before they truly delay the “future Saint of Calligraphy”!

Otherwise, he would indeed become a sinner.

Having realized this.

Wu Qinglan hurriedly found the servant of the Inner Room, his voice trembling as he pleaded, “Did you see it, did you see who just entered the Inner Room? You better tell me you saw it, otherwise, in this life… no, in the next life, and the life after that, I will be doomed!”

Wha-what?

The servant’s face turned pale at these words, not understanding what had happened, and he cried out in panic, “I… I really didn’t see anything!”