Scholar Zhou's folding fan was already soaked with sweat.
He looked at the ten gleaming silver ingots in Sun Erniang's arms, unable to tell if what he felt was jealousy or humiliation.
The commoners below the stage were still cheering. A few vegetable-selling old women gave him a thumbs-up, except their thumbs were pointing straight down.
Xu Qinghuan did not give him a chance to catch his breath.
"Alright, the first round is over. Let's move on to the second."
With a raise of Xu Qinghuan's hand, Li Sheng directed two soldiers to clear the abacuses from the stage and carry several bamboo baskets piled in the corner to the center.
The moment the basket lids were lifted, a pungent smell of medicinal herbs wafted out, making a few commoners in the front row sneeze repeatedly.
Dozens of mixed herbs covered the bottoms of the baskets. There were dried roots, crushed leaves, and dirt-covered tubers.
They varied in shades of color and came in all sorts of strange shapes, all jumbled together so that it was impossible to tell one from another.
Xu Qinghuan pointed at the pile.
"The rules are the same as before: simple and clear."
"These baskets of herbs are mixed with over a dozen poisonous wild grasses that look extremely similar to proper medicinal herbs. Even the apprentices in a pharmacy might not be able to tell them apart."
"Whoever can be blindfolded and pick out all the poisonous weeds relying solely on smelling with their nose and feeling with their fingers..."
"...and then name the herb and its toxicity, will pass this second round."
"The prize, similarly, is ten taels of silver."
After Xu Qinghuan's words fell, the atmosphere below the stage was completely different from the first round.
When it came to calculating accounts, at least there were many tradespeople among the commoners who could lend a hand.
But blindfolded herb identification required true expertise. In the entire Zhenbei City, one would be hard-pressed to find even a few who could do it.
The commoners looked at each other in silence.
Instead, the group of scholars behind Scholar Zhou was the first to stir.
Having lost so miserably in the calculation round just now, none of them could save face.
A scholar in a gray long gown leaned into Scholar Zhou's ear and muttered, "Brother Zhou, we must win this round no matter what, otherwise we'll be utterly disgraced today."
Scholar Zhou did not reply; his mind was plagued with anxiety.
Losing the calculation round was one thing, but if they lost all three rounds, he, Zhou Wencai, would never be able to hold his head high in Zhenbei City again.
"Does anyone here... know medicine?" Scholar Zhou turned around and asked in a hushed voice.
The dozen or so scholars looked at one another, all shaking their heads.
The scholar in the gray gown suddenly remembered something. He shoved a tall, thin man next to him and urged,
"Hey! Young Master Wu! Didn't your ancestors produce an imperial physician? Hurry up and go on stage to win some glory for us scholars!"
The pushed Young Master Wu took a half-step back in fright.
He was wearing a half-old blue cloth gown and a square scholar's hat. With his fair complexion, he did look somewhat like a proper intellectual.
But upon hearing that he was expected to go on stage to identify herbs, Young Master Wu waved his hands repeatedly. "My ancestors being imperial physicians was a matter of the previous dynasty! Passed down to my generation, let alone identifying herbs, I've only ever read a couple of volumes of the Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases. I've been reading it since I learned to recognize characters, and I still haven't finished it!"
"You want me to go up blindfolded and feel that pile of grass roots? I can't even tell the difference between astragalus and codonopsis. Going up there is just asking for death!"
The scholar in the gray gown stomped his foot in anxiety. "Then what should we do? We can't just lose another round!"
Young Master Wu shrank his neck and said nothing.
None of the other scholars dared to step forward either, all standing in place, pretending to be deaf and mute.
On stage, Xu Qinghuan took all this in, her face remaining impassive.
The commoners below the stage didn't care about their plight. Old Man Wang, who sold flatbreads, started speaking in a mocking tone again.
"Oh my, weren't these great talents just clamoring about governing the country and bringing peace to the world? How come they don't even dare to identify a few roots of grass now? This world isn't so easy to govern!"
"Hehe, could it be that their bellies full of learning can't even hold knowledge of a few medicinal herbs?"
The commoners erupted into another burst of laughter.
Just as the scholars were shoving each other, caught in a dilemma, a clear voice suddenly came from the outer edge of the crowd.
"I am willing to give it a try."
The crowd spontaneously parted, making a narrow path.
A young man walked out from behind the group of scholars.
He appeared to be in his early twenties, dressed in a cleanly washed green gown, with a plain cloth sash tied around his waist and a pair of half-old cloth shoes on his feet.
He didn't have a single valuable accessory on his entire person.
Scholar Zhou paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes to assess the newcomer.
He actually recognized this face.
This man had appeared in the teahouse a few days ago, speaking with a foreign accent and asking everyone he met about the deeds of the Imperial Envoy.
Where the envoy lived, what they had done, how many attendants were by their side—he asked in great detail.
At the time, Scholar Zhou was busy organizing the scholars in the teahouse to denounce the Imperial Envoy and completely ignored this young man from out of town.
What could a wet-behind-the-ears kid possibly know?
But today, this kid actually stepped forward on his own initiative to take the stage on behalf of the scholars. Scholar Zhou's face instantly darkened.
He quickly stepped in front of the young man, questioning him with a cold face, "Young sir, are you sure you know how to identify medicinal herbs? This isn't a game. Blindfolded identification of poisonous weeds—if you get it wrong, you'll make a fool of yourself. Don't ruin things for us!"
The young man tilted his head slightly to look at him but didn't answer, merely offering a faint smile.
Scholar Zhou was so choked by this smile that he couldn't speak.
He wanted to say a few more words, but looking around, not a single scholar behind him dared to go on stage. At least this young man was volunteering.
Young Master Wu quickly added fuel to the fire from behind, nodding and saying, "Brother Zhou, let this little brother give it a try! It's better than all of us forfeiting."
The other scholars chimed in agreement, all eager for someone to step up and act as a shield.
Scholar Zhou gritted his teeth and reluctantly stepped aside.
The young man walked up the stairs and cupped his hands in a salute to Xu Qinghuan.
"I shall take the test on behalf of the scholars."
Xu Qinghuan looked him up and down, revealing a thoughtful expression.
"Very well." Xu Qinghuan nodded. "The blindfold is on the table. The time limit is one stick of incense. Please begin."
...
