Chapter 126: A Troublesome Apprentice Examination (Part II)

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Huan Zhen laughed in exasperation. “You should have said so earlier. I would have waited before throwing the water.”

“Tsk, tsk. Brother Huan, you truly are heartless.” Xunyi Township lay just across the river from Buzhi Township, and the two places shared the same accent. Wang Tianmeng flung her hair back with a violent jerk. Muddy water streaked her face, leaving her looking as bedraggled as a beggar.

Huan Zhen had originally intended to take Wang Tianmeng’s place in charging through the ring of fire, but a young boy came running from behind. Grabbing the horse’s tail, he touched one foot to the ground and vaulted straight up onto its back. The feat alone drew cheers from the watching village soldiers.

Wang Tianmeng shouted angrily, “Sima Chong, if you have the nerve, come to the wrestling ground later! I’ll beat you until you wet yourself just like your niece—mmph, mmph, mmph…”

Huan Zhen clapped a hand over the troublemaker’s mouth and scolded her, “Shut up already! You bully a little girl and still have the face to tell everyone about it!”

While waiting for Sima Chong to finish, Huan Zhen glanced toward the artisans’ examination area on the western side. The examination for apprentice master artisans was the first narrow bridge in the hierarchy of craftsmen. Countless artisans had been forced off it, and the Huan clan was no exception. The aristocratic families had not monopolized every part of the examination. With Wang Ge’s abilities, she could certainly make it through, so Huan Zhen had not taken the unnecessary step of telling her.

He trusted that Wang Ge could handle the remaining tests as well, and he believed that one of the fifty apprentice-master positions would certainly be hers.

Wang Ge had been roused before dawn by the noise and happened to overhear a conversation nearby.

“Good sir, may I ask—yesterday you went to the Ruler-Wood Training Ground, didn’t you? How was it? Was fifty coins for an hour worth it?”

“Beggar, get lost! I paid for it myself, so why should I tell you?”

Another man protested unhappily, “We’re from the same village. I’m not asking about anything else—just whether it was worth it.”

“Beggar, get lost! I paid for it myself, so why should I tell you?”

If the three men had not been in the examination-preparation area, they would certainly have come to blows.

Suppressing a laugh, Wang Ge went to the latrine. On the way, she heard another exchange much like the first, and this time she could no longer find it amusing.

“Little Zhao, you went to the Measuring-Wood Training Ground yesterday, didn’t you? We’re all from the same village, so I wanted to ask—are there master artisans teaching inside? Is it worth spending so much money?”

“Beggar, get lost! I paid for it myself, so why should I tell you?”

“Why are you speaking like that? You’re so young, yet you have no manners!”

Little Zhao, who had been scolded—or rather, had gone looking for abuse—was thoroughly miserable. He raised a hand as though wiping away tears.

The brazier here had already gone out, leaving everything around it pitch-black. Wang Ge quickly departed. There was still some time before breakfast, so she returned to her bedding and silently recited the examination regulations.

The very first rule was: From entering the grounds until leaving them, all candidates must obey the officials’ arrangements without exception. Those who argued or refused to comply would be eliminated.

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Before entering, candidates had to hand over all luggage other than their travel-pass bamboo tallies to the officials in the preparation area. In exchange, they received a wooden luggage token to hang from their waists; after leaving, they could reclaim their belongings with the token. This procedure was more thorough than that of the artisan examination. Candidates likewise had to line up for a body search before entering, and no implements of any kind were permitted, including hairpins. Violators would be eliminated.

Because of the large number of candidates, the first three tests were held in three separate areas. Candidates had to follow the officials’ instructions and proceed to their assigned areas. Anyone who went to the wrong area would be eliminated.

Examination duration: undetermined. Results would be judged on the spot. Once fifty people had been admitted, the remaining candidates would not need to continue testing, and the grounds would be cleared.

During the examination, candidates could ask officials questions at any time if they encountered difficulties, but they were forbidden to speak with one another. One offense would bring a warning; two offenses meant elimination.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be provided at the examination grounds. Candidates were to collect their meals in an orderly fashion upon hearing the timekeeping drum. Latrines and rest areas were also available.

At first light, Wang Ge stopped reciting the rules and went to collect breakfast. After eating, she walked toward the training grounds, puzzlement in her heart. There were three in all: the Ruler-Wood Training Ground, the Square-Wood Training Ground, and the Wooden-Prism Training Ground.

The felt walls surrounding them were extremely tall, and the noise outside was so great that it was impossible to hear anything happening within.

From the similar, provoking exchanges that morning—“Beggar, get lost!”—between Little Zhao and the other young man, Wang Ge had realized that the training grounds were completely different from what she had first imagined.

As luck would have it, five artisan officials emerged from the felt wall beside the blacksmiths’ training area, each shaking a rattle drum. Noticing a candidate nearby, one of them came over. Shaking his rattle with a loud clatter, he asked eagerly, “This is the Wooden-Prism Training Ground! Going in?”

Wang Ge said timidly, “I only have thirty coins, so I…”

“That will do. Thirty is enough. Come along.”

She should have known better than to mention the exact amount. Wang Ge paid and followed him inside. The passage wound around like the coils of a seashell. After several dozen paces, it seemed to circle around to the southernmost section. No wonder the sounds within could not be heard from the preparation area.

The view opened up, and she counted roughly thirty artisans making arrow shafts. One glance was enough. She had indeed paid to be cheated.

Sure enough, the artisan official’s smile vanished. “First, sign the contract. Travel-pass tally.”

Wang Ge obediently untied the travel-pass bamboo tally from the cord around her waist. On the blank space left in the contract slip, the official carved five words with a knife: Buzhi Township, Wang Ge. Then he asked, “You are the first-ranked artisan, Wang Ge?”

“Yes.”

“Can you read?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Examine the contract carefully. The materials are over there, and the tools there. Find an empty place yourself. Within two hours, you must make three arrow shafts. See that exit? If you fail to complete them or they do not meet the requirements, there is no need for you to return to the preparation area. It is now the beginning of the Rabbit Hour. Once you have completed the arrow shafts, you may leave by the way you came four hours from now.”

“Yes.”

Wang Ge had made arrow shafts at Flying-Current Peak before, and the material here was the same: arrow bamboo. Time was short, so she hurried to gather the materials and tools.

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The official suddenly called after her. “Miss Wang, how is the training ground? Was it worth spending so much money for an hour?”

She immediately turned and shouted angrily, “Beggar, get lost! I paid for it myself, so why should I tell you?”

The corner of the artisan official’s mouth twitched, and he nodded. He was pleased that she understood the rules so well, though he also suspected that she had taken the opportunity to curse him.

Wang Ge straightened the arrow shafts and drew them across the scraping blade, working busily without daring to pause. Though she had been cheated and had suffered a loss, she had at least solved the mystery. Besides specifying the required standards for the arrow shafts, the contract she had just signed also stipulated that candidates were forbidden to reveal anything about the training ground after leaving it. If questioned, they could only reply with the sentence she had just spoken. Anyone who failed to abide by the contract, once discovered, would not only lose eligibility for the current examination but would also have every artisan rank previously earned revoked.

While the candidates worked on their arrow shafts, artisan officials would approach at irregular intervals and casually question one hapless candidate or another. The more uncertain a candidate sounded, the more often the officials chose that person to question, until everyone could answer with Wang Ge’s unwavering confidence.

The training grounds had one great advantage: the felt walls kept out much of the noise from outside. Their disadvantage was that they provided neither food nor latrines.

By the afternoon, at the beginning of the Horse Hour, Wang Ge’s “short labor service” came to an end. She exited by the same route. She had barely gone a few steps when a female candidate approached and asked, “Miss, we’re from the same village. How was the training ground? Ah, it costs fifty coins for an hour, and fifty coins are all I have. I wanted to ask whether it was worth it.”

“Beggar, get lost! I paid for it myself, so why should I tell you?”

“Why, you…” The woman seemed to mutter another insult under her breath before saying furiously, “As if I care whether you tell me! I’ll pay to go in myself!” To show her generosity, she turned to several candidates behind her who were watching the spectacle and said, “I’ll tell you all when I come out. It certainly won’t be like this little—hmph!”

Wang Ge had been cursed at for no reason and was thoroughly depressed. She knew that from then on, people would surely continue cursing her.

And so, at last, the fifteenth day of the Fifth Month arrived.

At the beginning of the Tiger Hour, breakfast was served in the preparation area. By the beginning of the Rabbit Hour, three long lines had already formed. Wang Ge handed over her luggage and fastened the wooden luggage token she received around her waist alongside her travel-pass bamboo tally. The wooden token bore the words Buzhi Township, Twenty-Five, Two. The twenty-five indicated the order of her luggage, while the final two meant that she was to join the middle line.

Wang Ge gazed at the felt wall ahead, twice as high as those surrounding the training grounds. The examination grounds lay beyond it.

Deep breath. Another deep breath. One more deep breath.

The apprentice-master examination…

I, Wang Ge, have arrived!

End of Chapter