Chapter 139: Second and Firs

After Fang Jie got up, he wrote several letters and asked the servants of Wu Yidao to help him deliver them. One was for Yu Xiao, and one was for Pei Chuxing.

He agreed to visit them, but he failed to get there on time. Therefore, he had to explain what happened.

The third letter was short; it only contained an address, and it was for Xie Fuyao.

The last two letters were for Zhang Kuang and Mo Xidao.

Then, Fang Jie changed into a set of clean clothes and wanted to go out of Gold-Sharing Duke’s residence.

Fang Jie felt like the sunlight was eye-piercing, and it took a while for him to get used to it.

He didn’t feel comfortable after sleeping for two days; he felt like his body was stiff and rusty.

When Fang Jie exited his room, Wu Yinyu chased after him. With her hands on her slender waist, she asked with a cold expression, “Where are you going?”

Fang Jie replied with a smile, “I’m going out to relax.”

“Bring me with you!” Wu Yinyu ordered.

“Why? I’m going to be meeting with men.”

“I don’t care, but you have to bring me along!”

“What is the reason?”

“No reason!”

“I have to bring you along regardless of who I meet?”

“Yeah!”

“We are going to a pleasure quarter.”

“You… shameless!”

“Are you coming?”

“Why not?” Wu Yinyu stomped her feet and replied with pretended calm, “Just a pleasure quarter; it isn’t like I have never been to one before.”

She even raised her chest to show her courage, and Fang Jie liked that. He looked at her chest and licked his lips, making Wu Yinyu blush and step back with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“If you look more, I will get someone to dig out your eyes!”

“I’m so scared!” Fang Jie shrugged and walked out.

Wu Yinyu looked at him and gritted her teeth. Then, she stomped her feet and chased after Fang Jie.

“Aren’t you afraid that I will sell you to a pleasure quarter?” Fang Jie asked while walking.

Wu Yinyu pouted and replied, “Even if you have the courage, can you actually sell me? You look dumb and must don’t know that my dad owns the few biggest pleasure quarters in Chang’an. If you want to sell me, some people will instantly chop you into pieces and feed you to the fish.”

“Huh?” Fang Jie’s interest was piqued. “So, your dad is the biggest ‘pimp’ in Chang’an? Tell me which pleasure quarters he owns; maybe I will get a discount if I go to those places.”

“Go die!” Wu Yinyu kicked toward Fang Jie, but Fang Jie avoided it. Wu Yinyu chased after him with punches, and Fang Jie dodged everything while saying that Wu Yinyu’s attacks were all weak.

Wu Yinyu was enraged, and she chased after Fang Jie, causing the hem of her dress to rise and reveal her lower legs.

Fang Jie ran and laughed while looking back, and Wu Yinyu wasn’t willing to admit defeat and ran faster behind Fang Jie.

Just as they reached the gate of the residence, Fang Jie suddenly stopped. Wu Yinyu wasn’t able to react in time and ran into him.

“Keep on running!” Wu Yinyu hammered Fang Jie’s back and didn’t notice Wu Yidao who was about to walk in and Jiu Secai who was behind him.

“Greetings, Gold-Sharing Duke.” Fang Jie bowed despite Wu Yinyu hitting his back.

Wu Yidao coughed slightly, and Wu Yinyu finally noticed that her dad was back. She blushed and walked to the side, pretending that nothing happened.

“Miss, your results are good.” Jiu Secai sensed the awkward atmosphere, so he chuckled and said, “Out of the nine tests, three are below-average, four are above-average, and one is excellent.”

Fang Jie counted with his fingers and asked, “What about the last one?”

Wu Yinyu glared at him, and Fang Jie recalled that Ms. Wu didn’t participate in the last test. It was probably a good idea.

Fang Jie smiled awkwardly and asked while pointing at himself, “What about me?”

Wu Yidao took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on Wu Yinyu’s forehead. Then, he looked back at Fang Jie and sneered, “It seems like you need to move out of my residence.”

“Why?” Fang Jie asked.

Jiu Secai smiled and replied, “Because you worth more now, so you have to increase your rent if you want to stay here.”

“What are my results?” Fang Jie asked again.

Wu Yidao completely ignored him and pulled Wu Yinyu’s hand as he said, “Although your results are good, I still need to discuss it with you. When I met Spiritual Master Xiao this morning, he told me that you should return to One Qi Daoist Temple. I already arranged everything, and you can leave tomorrow morning. See what you need and bring everything.”

“How is this discussing with me?” Wu Yinyu’s expression changed, and she broke away from Wu Yidao’s grip and quickly walked toward her room.

Fang Jie was surprised and didn’t know what to say.

Jiu Secai shook his head as he pulled Fang Jie, signaling the latter not to get involved.

Wu Yidao completely ignored Fang Jie and chased after Wu Yinyu.

While watching these two, Fang Jie suddenly somehow got a little envious.

“What happened?” Fang Jie asked.

Jiu Secai sighed and suddenly asked Fang Jie after a moment of silence, “Is Miss pretty?”

Fang Jie nodded and said, “Although she isn’t mature yet, it is undeniable that she is pretty.”

“His Majesty said that too.” The fatty shook his head and said, “You said she is pretty, and His Majesty said so as well. Everyone says that, so Miss must be pretty. When you two played, there was a refreshing atmosphere. Eh, I mean that you two are about the same age, so nothing looks strange. However, His Majesty… is about 40 years old.”

Fang Jie finally understood the situation, and his heart lurched a little.

“I got it,” he said.

Jiu Secai sighed powerlessly and added, “Now, it seems like only One Qi Daoist Temple on Pure Joy Mountain could allow Miss to have a few more peaceful years.”

“What about a few years from now?”

“Who knows?” Jiu Secai waved his hand and walked into the yard.

When Jiu Secai’s fat body disappeared, Fang Jie suddenly remembered that he still didn’t know his test results in the entrance exam.

But since everything was announced, Fang Jie was in no hurry. He straightened his attire and walked south.

…

The small shop that Xie Fuyao mentioned wasn’t far away from this city gate, and Fang Jie spent quite a while before finding the spot.

When he got there, Xie Fuyao was already waiting. The table was clean, and there was nothing on it except for a pot of tea.

Clearly, this young man knew how to respect others; he didn’t order anything before Fang Jie and others got here.

“What is good here?” Fang Jie asked after sitting down.

“Stewed meat.” Xie Fuyao asked the waiter to fill the teapot, then he pointed at the big iron pot by the kitchen and said, “When I first came to Chang’an, my father brought me here to eat the stewed meat. Since then, I couldn’t forget it. Regardless of how many delicacies I eat, I still feel like a bowl of stewed meat with buns on the side is more delicious.”

Fang Jie wanted to say that Xie Fuyao was quite low maintenance, but he felt like he wasn’t close enough with Xie Fuyao to make such a comment.

While the two of them talked, Zhang Kuang and Mo Xidao arrived together.

As soon as they got here, they asked Fang Jie if he felt better, and Fang Jie smiled and pointed at the big iron pot, saying that he was strong enough to finish it himself.

Seeing that Fang Jie was ok, Zhang Kuang joked, “Are you talking about eating that iron pot?”

After Fang Jie got caught by that old monk, Xie Fuyao instantly chased after that old monk despite the latter’s insane strength. Therefore, Zhang Kuang and Mo Xidao’s impression of him changed greatly. The border soldiers could trust their backs to their peers, so Zhang Kuang and Mo Xidao didn’t mind befriending someone who was this fearless and loyal to friends.

“Oh right. Fang Jie, we met your friend on our way here.”

“Who?”

“Cui Lueshang.”

“Ah? Where is he?” Fang Jie asked in a hurry.

“He is probably out of Chang’an already; he left the city on a horse alone. You probably can’t catch up to him now. I chatted with him and told him that you were injured. I can tell he is worried about you, but he said that he won’t go visit you after a while of hesitation. He is probably still upset about being disqualified. I know that people like him who are from big families have pride in themselves, and he probably doesn’t want to see you due to shame.”

Fang Jie nodded and felt bad for Cui Lueshang who was humble and loyal.

“He said that he will pull some strings after he goes home. Even though he can’t enter the Martial Arts Academy, he will still enter the military. This incident is probably weighing on his mind, and he couldn’t get away from it unless he proves himself,” Zhang Kuang said feelingly.

“Given his personality, perhaps experiencing such a setback isn’t bad for him,” Fang Jie sighed and thought, “Before I came to Chang’an, I worried about my future, but I never thought that Cui Lueshang wouldn’t be able to enter the academy.”

Now, Fang Jie was in the academy, but Cui Lueshang was disqualified. If Fang Jie was in Cui Lueshang’s shoes, he would feel terrible as well.

Then, the four of them started to talk about what happened that day.

Mo Xidao was sure that the old monk was from the Buddhist Sect.

Fang Jie didn’t want to lie to his friends, but he had to. He said that the old monk was an assassin who wanted to kill the Emperor and dressed up as a member of the Buddhist Sect, and he was either from Eastern Chu or Shang that was wiped out 15 years ago.

Mo Xidao thought for a while and said, “That is possible. I have been to Eastern Chu before, and I know that even though they seem obedient on the surface, they are hostile toward Great Sui. Although I have never been to the south, I’m sure that those members of Shang who are still alive today feel the same way.”

Fang Jie thought, “If you are a member of Chu or Shang, you would hate Great Sui as well for taking away two-thirds of your territory.”

Fang Jie would have followed Mo Xidao’s logic and said that those two people were from the Buddhist Sect, but it involved him and the secret that he didn’t even know about.

After thinking about that, Fang Jie couldn’t help but think about that old monk.

When Fang Jie suddenly attacked, that old monk seemed to have understood something, and Fang Jie didn’t hear his murmurs.

However, he saw the old monk feeling relieved, and he felt like he didn’t die because that old monk went easy on him on purpose.

However, that didn’t make any sense.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Kuang suddenly lowered his voice and said to Fang Jie, “I heard that Great Sui is about to wage a war, but I don’t know who the target is. There aren’t many places that Great Sui can attack. Southern Yan and Eastern Chu are both fragile, and the annual tribute that they must give to Great Sui is suffocating enough for them. Rather than conquering these two empires, it is better to keep them around and accept money from them every year. Could it be Northern Man?”

Zhang Kuang was a border soldier from Anyuan City in the north, and he dealt with people of Northern Man half of his life. Therefore, he wanted Great Sui to conquer Northern Man.

“I have no idea.” While saying that, Fang Jie’s heart lurched, and he thought, “How come this information got out?”

Xie Fuyao’s expression changed a little as well, and he said after thinking for a bit, “If Great Sui is really going to wage a war, I would rather enter the military and not the Martial Arts Academy.”

“Why?” Fang Jie asked.

Xie Fuyao replied, “Rather than spending three years in the Martial Arts Academy, it is better to fight in a war.”

Fang Jie thought for a bit and felt like that was true. The top three students in the Martial Arts Academy could only get rank 5 military positions after graduating. If there was a war, people could get into the military and start at the lowest military position. If they were fearless and strong, people like Xie Fuyao could easily rise in ranks.

After the war, if they were still alive, people like Xie Fuyao would at least become rank 5 military officials.

While they chatted, a small eunuch in fancy clothes suddenly came in. He first glanced around haughtily before walking toward Fang Jie.

“Gongzi Fang, I finally found you. Let’s go! His Majesty is waiting for you in Smooth Spring Garden.”

This eunuch was Wu Three, the small eunuch who Fang Jie befriended before.

“What is so urgent?” Fang Jie stood up and asked.

Wu Three was stunned, and he asked, “You still don’t know?”

“Know about what?”

“You… You got excellent ratings for all nine tests; you are the second person in the history of Great Sui who obtained such results. You are the first one in the last 100 years!”

[TL Note: The MC is finally getting somewhere.]