Because It's You

2.10|| The Prodigal Young Master

When he set his mind onto something, he would get through it with his utmost dedication. The initial 'as long as I pass' had become 'I must come out on top' for Yang Wenbao, as he pushed his brain to the limit during the examination.

The examination assessed the male attendees on the whole subjects in six arts and the four arts (1). In contrast to this, the female attendees were only assessed on the civil parts of both.

Yang Wenbao was definitely not the best in the equestrianism test. In his past life, although he had some horse training during his military assignment, it was not to the level of 'being one soul with your horse'. The original Yang Wenbao had only ever been a foot soldier as well. Fortunately, he also dabbled in horse-riding upon his return to Great Wei, under Marquis Yang, Yang Liyuan's, and his soldier friends' supervision. His hard work managed to keep him on the horse's back and at least he could jump over all the provided hurdles successfully, albeit slower than other seasoned riders from military backgrounds.

For calligraphy as well, he was not too skilled. Not only was he not too adept in using a soft brush, the complex characters used in Great Wei were as many as the stars in the sky. Fortunately he possessed the original's memories and somewhat nimble fingers. Although his writing was not the most elegant, he did not write any character of the provided poetry subjects incorrectly.

In other subjects though, Yang Wenbao was like a fish in water. Even in painting, being a person from the modern world, he could procure a vivid scenery using bolder colors using his brush and specially-made ink he had tinkered with prior coming to the academy. Examination attendees were allowed to bring their own brush and ink to use them in the painting test. Yang Wenbao had experimented on different flowers and herbs, assisted by his sister Yang Xiqin. The result was, he managed to procure colored powders to be used as ink.

This itself was not ingenious. After all, in Great Wei, make-up for the face was widely available using the same concept. Yet, not a lot of people thought about using colored powder as ink for paintings. Most of the well-known paintings were black on white and emphasized on the painter's brush skill. Yang Wenbao decided on a simple landscape of river, towered by lush green mountains and floating clouds. He used predominantly blue and green, and a soft black outline for his painting.

For some reason, he was thinking of Zhou Yequan's eyes when he painted the river.

Soon, five days passed and the attendees promptly passed out in their rooms, having pushed both their minds and bodies to the limit. Yang Wenbao also idled away for a few days in the academy, while various senior scholars and teachers graded the tests.

During those days, he tried going back to Zhou Yequan's courtyard a few times, but no matter how long he waited, Zhou Yequan was never seen again. The eunuch and the guards had gone as well, signifying that the Prince had probably returned to the palace.

If Yang Wenbao wanted to see Zhou Yequan again and with a degree of freedom, he must obtain his qualification. Suddenly, the thought made him nervous.

However, he did not have anything to worry about as the examination result was finally made available. It was not a small affair as well, with the announcement being plastered to every town's walls as many as possible. There was also a short evaluation on the top three examinees. One stood out from the rest:

The Yang clan's Yang Wenbao was passable in horse-riding; however, he came on top for archery. He had not missed any single target, be it moving or non-moving. His arrows were sure and precise, as if he had been blessed by the wind. Yang Wenbao had certainly displayed keenness and level of talent that Great Wei's most exalted military would be proud of.