Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 380: Chapter 281: Old Fox

The two kept their expressions natural, and their brush strokes continued smoothly without hesitation, as if they could still decipher a few more groups.

In this way, Luu Xi might end up being overtaken by Qi Chen and Pei Yi in the final moments due to his less proficient grasp of Ancient Shell Script.

As for Chu Ming...

He was still pondering, with only a few scattered lines on the paper, seemingly still immersed in the previous sketches.

Tang Bai observed this with a look of both appreciation and concern.

Although Zuo Yuan was a deputy at the Wenlin Garden, he was also the Prime Minister, wielding great authority. If this challenge was not overcome, Tang Bai would find it difficult to keep Chu Ming around.

The so-called rightful justification must leave no room for doubt about one’s abilities.

With Zuo Yuan rising to the rank of Prime Minister, his scheming ran deep. His sudden visit to Wenlin Garden held impure motives, casting pressure from both the Crown Prince and His Majesty, giving Tang Bai a faint sense of unease.

Chu Ming was a talented individual, undoubtedly capable of finding intricacies among various ancient texts and objects. He hoped to have him stay at Wenlin Garden.

Yet, given the current situation, he felt a bit uncertain.

Twenty groups of poetry, how could not a single line be deciphered until now?

Surely it couldn’t be yet another act of idle imagination?

The line art’s use of imaginative methods could still be explained by strong conceptual abilities, but this time, the poetry’s reverse decipherment into hieroglyphic characters was a test of mastery over hieroglyphics.

The more hieroglyphic characters stored in one’s mind, the richer the textual reserves, making reverse decipherment quicker.

In other words, with a certain stock of Ancient Armor Script in hand, shouldn’t one be able to decipher three or two groups?

After three groups, the difficulty would sharply increase, as he and Zuo Yuan deliberately intensified the complexity beyond the third group.

Word groups are not single characters; they require an understanding combined with meaning, making the challenge significantly harder.

Thus, even if deciphered but not written down, one could easily be disrupted by the obscure meanings of subsequent word groups.

Chaos leads to loss, loss leads to exposure, exposure leads to defeat.

At this moment, Tang Bai did not understand why Chu Ming still hadn’t begun writing.

Surely... this young man possessed extraordinary clarity of thought and exceptional memory?

Tang Bai’s eyes flickered slightly.

He had seen many with talent and wisdom, some diligent scholars, others gifted, including a few with clear reasoning and remarkable memory.

However, in his view, only those who, in such reverse hieroglyphic tests, could construct associations in their minds and finally write down six sets of poetry as one were truly clear-minded with remarkable memory.

Qi Chen and Pei Yi couldn’t do it; Luu Xi possibly could.

Tang Bai believed he could do it in his youth, and that junior in his family might be able to as well...

Could the white-clad youth in the hall achieve this?

As Tang Bai focused on the white-clad youth, Zuo Yuan was also intentionally or inadvertently glancing at Chu Ming.

The visit today was not coincidental, nor due to the Crown Prince’s urgings for deciphering the Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Sea Scripture, but because of Chu Ming, the First-Grade Cold Scholar.

Previously, he received news that a First-Grade Cold Family distributed dossiers to thirteen scholars, the content of which was to investigate Imperial Court officials.

Holding official positions within Qin Capital, no one could be entirely clean. Any investigation would uncover something, with deeper inquiries possibly leading upward step by step.

Chu Ming investigated the Camp Repair Department’s Cui Ye, yet Cui Ye was neither very scheming nor shallow, leaving evidence for self-preservation.

It was only under pressure that he learned the evidence was tied to Tang Xuan, the head of River Transport Headquarters, and Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat Luu Shizhong.

Though evidence of Tang Xuan’s guilt emerged, the evidence against Luu Shizhong vanished.

Was it Cui Ye lying to protect himself, or was the evidence in someone’s hands?

He didn’t want to gamble, nor did he dare to.

Everyone in the court knew that Luu Shizhong was brought up by him, Zuo Yuan, and his son Luu Xi often remained by his side.

Would the First-Grade Cold Family probe into Luu Shizhong? Would they pursue him after probing Luu Shizhong?

Zuo Yuan knew the current Majesty was suspicious, with Xiang Yue, the Commander of the Tiger Armor Army, being the best example. He could not guarantee whether someday he might face the same fate.

Thus, his visit today intended to get in touch ahead with the initiator of the dossier investigation, Chu Ming, the First-Grade Cold Scholar.

The best approach was to ally with Tang Bai and interrogate the white-clad youth in the hall once or twice, and at worst, they needed to gain some information.

Yet...

Zuo Yuan’s gaze drifted to Tang Bai, causing a slight stir in his heart.

Tang Bai, who had retreated to Wenlin Garden for years, seemed unwilling to meddle in court affairs any longer, immersing himself in art and ancient texts and relics.

However, perhaps that was for the better, reducing the number of political adversaries.

Looking again at Chu Ming, he was merely the illegitimate son of a merchant from a border town, lacking both backing and background. Offering him some small incentives should prove effective.

These kinds of challenges were designed to increase difficulty, making it hard for the illegitimate sons in the hall to enter Wenlin Garden.

Afterward, he would express his appreciation for talent, offering some verbal praise and rewards.

A teenager experiencing hardship and defeat, yet receiving praise and admiration from the Prime Minister would inevitably plant ideas of inclination or even allegiance.

Outside the hall, the thoughts of two elders diverged, while inside, three people were sketching, with one in deep thought.

The time limit approached the final quarter of an hour.

Luu Xi’s paper already held twelve complete hieroglyphic phrases.

The thirteenth line had deciphered one hieroglyphic character, with more than half of the Ancient Shell Script deciphered.

Qi Chen likewise had twelve lines, although the twelfth line was yet unfinished.

Pei Yi had eleven lines and was attempting the twelfth.

The current state of the three was one of hesitation, appearing to encounter obstacles.

And the white-clad youth in deep thought finally picked up his brush and inked it.

The brush moved without pause, just as before, as if everything had already been composed in his mind, awaiting its inscription onto paper.