Episode 10 recap: Jiang Jing Rui taught a chess lesson to Shen Ru Yun.
The annual examination officially began, with Shen Yu Rong presiding, and the other examiners also having voting rights. During the test, Li Lian's team was in the lead, Jiang Ruo Yao was second, and Xue Fang Fei's team was still lagging behind in points. Everyone was waiting to see their "joke", hoping they would lose and withdraw from the Ming Yi Hall and the National Academy.
It was Xue Fang Fei's turn the next day. Her performance was crucial for the whole team. However, during the last-minute review, Xue Fang Fei's old wrist injury flared up again. Xiao Heng asked Si Tu Jiu Yue for help again. Si Tu Jiu Yue had a solution, but it depended on Xue Fang Fei's personal fortitude, as it could cost her life.
For the sake of the competition, Xue Fang Fei was willing to try. Xiao Heng called Xue Fang Fei by her nickname "A Li" again, successfully catching her attention. Xiao Heng invited her to have breakfast, and his chatty manner reminded Xiao Fang Fei of her father and Xue Zhao, who were just the same. When Xue Fang Fei arrived at the Ming Yi Hall, she was slightly late and was immediately targeted by Meng Hong Jin.
The two young masters of the Li family arrived, and Meng Hong Jin quickly went over to stand with their team. Xiao Jing Rui and Liu Xu and others arrived, and the numbers were uneven. They stared at each other, ready to face the annual examination bet. The examiner Xiao announced the rules: the one with the lowest rank would be expelled from the Ming Yi Hall and the National Academy. Shen Yu Rong, following the emperor's arrangement, presided over the annual examination, and he personally took charge of the first written test.
With a gong strike, Ye Shi Jie and others began writing. Xiao Heng, following the clues provided by Ji Mo Gong Zi, discovered that Little Tao Hong might be involved, so he asked Wen Ji to investigate thoroughly. Wen Ji was anxious to watch the bet, so he bet on the Li family young masters. Xiao Heng heard about it and planned to go to the scene to enjoy the show.
The results of the written test came out, and Li Jin and Ye Shi Jie made the cut. They had to compete by answering questions, and the correct answerer would get a point. Examiner Xiao asked the questions, and Ye Shi Jie could always ring the bell first and answer correctly. Jiang Jing Rui was secretly pleased, thinking Ye Shi Jie would easily win first place. After Ye Shi Jie answered five questions in a row, Li Jin started to snatch the lead.
Li Jin liked to counterattack. He kept snatching the questions, disrupting Ye Shi Jie's concentration, making him unable to calm down and answer. Ye Shi Jie tried to adjust his mood, but the score still fell behind Li Jin. Shen Yu Rong asked them questions about political economics, asking them to discuss the countermeasures for corrupt officials and disasters. Li Jin thought he answered well, but Shen Yu Rong leaned more towards Ye Shi Jie's answer.
The two were tied after the first round. Liu Xu invited the team to dinner, and Jiang Jing Rui was very confident, proposing that the four of them hold hands to borrow good luck. When Liu Xu held hands with Ye Shi Jie, her heartbeat quickened, and the four of them laughed and cheered each other on.
Before the exam, Shen Ruyun asked Shen Yurong for chess tips, but Shen Yurong couldn't help but call out for Xue Fangfei, feeling very anxious.
Jiang Jingrui self-taught his father's chess manual, and Xue Fangfei accompanied him for a game, to his amazement at her skill. Xue Fangfei falsely claimed to have self-learned from the Zhennü Hall, and Jiang Jingrui naturally believed her, admiring their shared talent. Jiang Jingrui didn't take Li Lian seriously, but he accidentally saw Ji Shuran bribing the examiner Hongxian, and told Xue Fangfei about it.
Xue Fangfei learned that Hongxian was the top courtesan of Wanxian Pavilion, with exceptional musical skills. The second round of the chess exam began, and Jiang Jingrui prayed not to be paired with Li Lian. Xiao the examiner announced the pairings, with Jiang Jingrui and Shen Ruyun facing off, and Xue Fangfei told him not to go easy on her.
Xue Fangfei had previously taught Shen Ruyun, and knew her short temper. Jiang Jingrui deliberately led her into a trap, first letting her taste success, then launching his attack. Shen Ruyun, flustered by the deception, thought of Xue Fangfei and, consumed by anger, directly fainted when looking at Jiang Li.
Shen Ruyun believed Jiang Li was Xue Fangfei and went to tell Shen Yurong, only to be slapped by him. Shen Yurong told her not to speak nonsense, as he was certain he had buried Xue Fangfei himself, and made her remember that Xue Fangfei was dead.
Though Jiang Jingrui didn't get first place, he ranked fifth. The third round was archery, changed from mounted archery to the Tiangong-style archery created by the Emperor, requiring the archers to be suspended in the air. It was Liusu's turn, and she faced off against Meng Hongjin, who shot consecutively, while Liusu faltered due to her fear of heights. Meng Hongjin mocked Liusu, while Xue Fangfei and others cheered her on.
Li Lian secretly plotted, attacking Jiang Jingrui to make Liusu unstable while suspended, thinking Meng Hongjin had the win in the bag. But unexpectedly, Liusu successfully shot the target, earning the admiration of everyone present, even Meng Hongjin's own team. In the final round of the zither trial, everyone saw the list and believed Li Qingqing, the young master of the Li family, was no simple matter, being the runner-up for years.
Xue Fangfei knew she had to beat Jiang Ruoyao, the perennial champion, in order to beat the Li family young master, and everyone eagerly awaited the showdown. Xue Fangfei's old injury relapsed, but she didn't want Jiang Jingrui to worry, saying it was a matter of willpower. Xiao Heng saw Xue Fangfei's injury and, thinking she was too eager for success, took her to see Situ Jiuyue for further treatment.
Situ Jiuyue, hearing his reputation had been damaged, came to help treat Xue Fangfei's injury again, diagnosing vein damage that would require three days to recover. Xiao Heng's words provoked him, and he thought of an even better plan, asking Xue Fangfei if she dared to take a gamble.
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