Chapter 12 of The Three Heroes of Shu in the First Volume: A Poetry Contest of Great Interest

  In a mountain stream, a man in black attire stood facing a waterfall, his hands clasped behind him, full of spirit.

  Three meters away from him, a man in black attire was kneeling on the ground, speechless for a long time.

  This is a scenic spot in Qingcheng Mountain, which is a famous tourist resort in Shu.

  The wind rises, the water splashes. The waterfall plunges down, with a majestic momentum. Suddenly, a sharp bird cry echoes, and the man facing the waterfall finally speaks: "How did things go?"

  The man kneeling on the ground, as soon as he heard the other person speak, was stunned all over, and immediately said: "Report to the master, things have been done almost, just wait for the meeting to reach **part, when everyone is most relaxed, that's when they will make their move, and also when that old guy will die."

  That person listened and didn't show any satisfaction or dissatisfaction, continuing: "After the matter is settled, there will definitely be a reward, go down now."

  "Yes!" After saying that, the man who was half-kneeling on the grass immediately stood up, turned his head and left, leaving behind only the mysterious man whose expression and face could not be seen.

  "Hmph! You dare to defy Father, I'll make you regret it! Hahahaha!" The arrogant voice echoed through the wind, accompanied by the roar of the waterfall and the reverberations of the mountain valley. For a moment, the entire valley was in turmoil, with piercing cries that cut through the air.

  ——————————————

  After King Jing Lang shouted "good", a burst of applause immediately erupted from all directions. King Jing waved his sleeve and said again: "This time, the king holds this grand meeting only to select talented people for the imperial court, regardless of their birth or status, as long as they have talent, as long as they are useful to the imperial court, then they will get the king's recommendation letter to go to the capital for the exam."

  After finishing, the audience erupted in applause again. Most of the people who came here were local talents who had not been on the list in previous years or had not participated in the imperial examination for special reasons. Now that the king has given them this opportunity, it is natural that everyone is overjoyed, after all, opportunities are hard to come by.

  "His Majesty is wise!" A middle-aged man standing beside King Jing, presumably his attendant, cheered and shouted as soon as King Jing finished speaking.

  Everyone in the field also cooperated very well, instantly responding with one call and a hundred echoes, shouting "Wang Ye is wise".

  "Good!" King Jing raised his hand, and the scene immediately fell silent. He continued, "First of all, I want to tell everyone that this conference is different from previous ones. This time, it will be divided into three stages! The first stage is running. As we all know, a healthy body is the foundation of a person. If one doesn't have a healthy body, even if they become an official in the future, many times they will not be able to do their job well. Therefore, whether or not an official has a healthy body directly affects the prosperity of the Ming dynasty."

  "A running competition?" The scene below was in an uproar, no one had ever heard of it before. A poetry conference with a running competition? This King Jing's idea was indeed quite unconventional.

  Many people think this is quite ridiculous. Which dynasty or generation of officials had such requirements? It's simply inexplicable, just thinking about it, but not daring to say it out loud.

  Zheng Yao and Liu Yan both had some difficulties, as they were both still recovering from their illnesses and their physical strength was definitely not as good as that of ordinary people. If the journey was too long, they might not be able to hold on.

  "With a physique like a rack of ribs, I'd advise you to hurry back, otherwise you'll be running out of breath halfway and that would be embarrassing enough." Ning An couldn't miss the opportunity to strike at Zheng Yao, so she whispered mockingly in his ear.

  "Isn't it just running? Don't look down on me here, you should worry about your own guy instead. He's the one who should be a sickly child, haha." Zhēng Yáo said as he quickly dodged out of the way. As expected, no sooner had he finished speaking than Níng ān's fist was flying towards him, but fortunately Zhēng Yáo dodged in time.

  "I said you two should stop bickering for a moment and listen to Master Wang continue speaking." Yuan Haiyun had a helpless expression, this Ning An was just like an immature little kid, doing things without any sense of priority or urgency.

  "Me!" Ning An saw that Liu Yantou didn't react at all, so he made a silly face at Yuan Haiyun as well, being very mischievous.

  "Uh..." Yuan Haiyun was speechless, but it made Liu Yan and Zhang Cheng burst out laughing.

  "The running distance is not too far, a ten-mile journey. From here, follow the route, passing through the mountains in front, and run to the designated location on the opposite mountain within half an hour to complete the first competition project. At the same time, during this period, you must proceed along the specified route, otherwise your qualification will be cancelled. Next is the second stage - Wen Dou. The so-called Wen Dou is a real test of the skills of all the talented scholars. Specific details will be known later. As for the last one, it's Yong Dou, which is the time to test everyone's courage. If you pass all three projects, you will naturally get my letter of recommendation! Okay, in short, the basic rules have been explained clearly, if there are no questions, then please prepare, scholars." King Jing said a lot, if you still don't understand, it can only be said that your understanding ability is defective, and you can't blame others.

  "It sounds quite interesting, but it's not my turn." Ning An also wanted to come over and dress up as a man, but if she was discovered, she would definitely be recognized by King Jing. At that time, not only would she be scolded by her uncle King Jing, but there was also a high possibility that Liu Yan would find out about her identity and ignore her afterwards.

  "Miss, you mustn't be reckless......" Xiaoxi was actually afraid of Ning An, this princess had always been self-willed and domineering. If she were to cause a scene in public, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  "Alright, don't worry, I still have some sense of propriety." Ning An looked a bit disappointed, but she could only do this, she didn't want to reveal her identity and be recognized by King Jing.

  "I said, what are you two whispering about? Don't go behind my back and speak ill of me again!" Just then, Ning An and Xiao Xi were secretly talking to each other, but he didn't know what they were discussing. However, based on his own experience and understanding of Ning An, he knew it definitely wouldn't be anything good. His first instinct was that they were speaking ill of him.

  "What's it to you, you fool! Even if we were talking about you, what business is it of yours? Besides, I don't even bother to pay attention to you!"

  "You... " was suddenly at a loss for words after being scolded by Ning An in such a cold and unfeeling manner.

  "Speak not of what is not polite, listen not to what is not polite. Third Brother and Ning An, you two just say one less sentence each, as the saying goes: 'It's better for enemies to part ways than to entwine', also said: 'Take a step back and the sea and sky will be wide open', ancient words also say: 'Speaking too much will lead to loss, disaster comes from the mouth', I think you two should stop arguing now!" Zhang Cheng saw that the two were starting to argue again, so he immediately opened his mouth to stop them, but his words of stopping only made others feel even more speechless.

  On the other side, Liu Yan remained silent, very calm.

  Ning An innocently pouted, looking at Liu Yan who was as still as a wooden stake, not reacting for half a day, and she had no idea what he was thinking in his heart, or if he even knew that she had feelings for him.

  "Alright, don't worry, I and Third Brother will definitely go all out. Believe in us!" Liu Yan suddenly glanced at Ning An and said, his eyes filled with expectation and confidence.

  "Oh." Ning An responded dazedly and retreated to the side, as if Liu Yan's gaze had a magical power that even Ning An couldn't explain.

  "That's great, that's great! Then I'll wait for the two brothers to take the autumn exam together this year!" Zhang Cheng said with a excited face.

  As soon as this was said, it immediately attracted the strange gaze of the surrounding crowd. This hasn't even started yet, and you're already thinking about the autumn trials this year, isn't that a bit too much?

  Everyone is ready at this moment, waiting for King Jing on the stage to give orders.

  "Right!"

  "Start—"

  The copper gong rang out loud and clear, all the contestants stepped forward in unison, rushing straight towards the mountains on the other side.

  Zheng Yao and Liu Yan saw the crowd leaving, so they naturally didn't want to fall behind. They immediately stepped out and followed the crowd, advancing forward together. Zhang Chengning An and others also followed alongside, heading into the mountains.

  At that time, overlooking the entire riverbank of the Yangtze River, the flowing crowd was like the Yangtze River and the sea, unstoppable, rushing straight to the ocean.