Inside the kitchen, the old woman said, "Isn't it that scholar? If you don't give him rice, he won't do anything!"

The kitchen fell silent. After a long while, Liu Yimin said, "Go borrow some rice first, and we'll pay it back when we get our share in a few days."

Then, Liu Yimin came out of the kitchen, looking a little unnatural, but he tried his best to smile.

"I'm sorry, the old woman is getting old and can't chop vegetables well," Liu Yimin explained.

Jiang Chen didn't directly expose the old man's attempt to cover things up. After finishing lunch, he said, "Village Chief, we're traveling south this time not only to admire the scenery of our Great Wei, but also to visit scholars in various places. We would be grateful if the Village Chief could introduce us to some."

Liu Yimin was a little embarrassed but eventually agreed.

However, he cautioned, "Stationed in our village is a scholar, Master Xiucai, whose knowledge is naturally excellent, but he has a rather eccentric temperament. Please bear with him."

Jiang Chen nodded without saying anything.

Liu Yimin led Jiang Chen and the others along a small path into a bamboo forest behind the village.

In a clearing in the bamboo forest stood a house more exquisite than any other in the village, and it was easy to see that it was brand new.

Liu Yimin said, "Master Xiucai likes peace and quiet, so we in Liu Li Village built him a house here."

Jiang Chen's expression had already darkened.

His intention in stationing students and scholars in the villages was to restrain those greedy people, not to increase the burden on the common people.

When they were still thirty feet away from the house, Liu Yimin said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go tell Master Xiucai."

After saying that, Liu Yimin bowed and cautiously approached, gently knocking on the door.

Although Jiang Chen was thirty feet away, he could still hear the movement inside the room.

A woman's voice sounded from the room: "Master, wake up, someone is looking for you."

Then, an impatient question came from the room.

"Who is it?"

Liu Yimin quickly replied, "It's me, Liu Yimin, the village chief of Liu Li Village."

The person inside heard Liu Yimin's voice but didn't come out. Instead, he said unhappily, "Haven't I told you not to disturb me unless it's important?"

Liu Yimin ignored whether the other person could see him or not and put on a flattering smile, saying, "It's like this, today there are three students from the capital traveling south who have heard of Master Xiucai's great name and want to come and pay their respects."

It was quiet inside for a while before footsteps could be heard, and then the door opened from the inside.

A slightly overweight old man around fifty years old with graying temples walked out of the room.

His clothes were somewhat disheveled, obviously put on in a hurry.

He stood in front of the door, glanced at Liu Yimin, and then looked at Jiang Chen and the others.

After looking them up and down, the old man said blandly, "You are the ones who want to see me?"

His tone was full of pride.

Although he was just a Xiucai (a title conferred on students who pass the county-level imperial exam), he was already an extraordinary figure to the tens of millions of people in Great Wei.

It should be known that there were at least hundreds of thousands of scholars in Great Wei.

And among these hundreds of thousands of people, only those who usually excelled in their studies were qualified to be recommended by their teachers to participate in the imperial examination.

Only scholars who had participated in the imperial examination could be called Tongsheng (a student who has passed the preliminary examination).

The number of Tongsheng in the current Great Wei was about fifty thousand.

This meant that more than two-thirds of the scholars had only studied and were still commoners.

And of these approximately fifty thousand Tongsheng, only about ten percent of the candidates could obtain a passing grade in the imperial examination.

Only those who passed the imperial examination could be called Xiucai.

Therefore, although the old man was a Xiucai, it was no exaggeration to say that his status was already much higher than that of ordinary people.

In the old Xiucai's opinion, Jiang Chen and the others were young, probably at most Tongsheng, otherwise, why would they come to pay their respects to a Xiucai like himself?

With this in mind, he naturally had to put on the airs of a senior.

However, he felt a little strange about the combination of Jiang Chen and the other two.

One of them was a woman, so she obviously couldn't be a scholar.

The other was very strong and didn't look like a scholar either.

Only the young man in the middle seemed to have the air of a scholar.

The old Xiucai focused his attention on Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen nodded, "Yes."

The old Xiucai was a little unhappy. He was a Xiucai! A senior!

Why was this young man not respectful at all?

Thinking this, the old man's expression showed it.

Of course, he had the qualifications to do so.

The Xiucai was absolutely a dimensionality reduction blow when facing commoners and Tongsheng.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly, I still need to study!" the old Xiucai said impatiently.

Study?

Jiang Chen sneered. He had heard the movement in the room very clearly.

"Are you studying classics and history, or are you enjoying the company of a beautiful woman?"

The old Xiucai's face couldn't help but change.

Not only because Jiang Chen had said what kind of books he was reading, but more importantly, Jiang Chen's use of the word "you" stung him.

How dare he!

How dare he call a Xiucai like him "you"?

Where were his manners?

"Get out! Get out of here immediately!"

The old Xiucai's beard trembled with anger. "I don't welcome people without manners here!"

Liu Yimin was taken aback. He didn't expect Jiang Chen to anger the old Xiucai so much with just one sentence.

He quickly gave Jiang Chen a pleading look, begging Jiang Chen not to say anymore.

Although he was the village chief, he was nothing in front of the Xiucai.

What's more, this Xiucai was appointed by the imperial court as the village administrator.

Jiang Chen gave Liu Yimin a reassuring look, then looked at the old Xiucai again.

"I think you're at the age where you should know your destiny, right? You've been studying for so many years, you should know the four virtues: propriety, justice, integrity, and honor, right?"

"Before you talk about whether others have manners, take a look at whether you understand propriety, justice, integrity, and honor!" Jiang Chen said coldly.

The old Xiucai was so angry that he was half dead.

A dignified Xiucai was actually said by a young man to not understand propriety, justice, integrity, and honor?

"Impudent! Audacious!"

The old Xiucai cursed angrily, "When I was studying, you were probably still in your mother's womb!"

"So your books have all been read into a dog's belly?" Jiang Chen retorted sharply.

"You...you!"

The old Xiucai held onto the doorframe, feeling dizzy from Jiang Chen's anger.

After a long while, he calmed down.

He stared at Jiang Chen and said resentfully, "Good! You're finished!"

"I will definitely report today's events to the county administrator, to the county magistrate!"

Liu Yimin was taken aback, thinking that the old Xiucai was going to find someone to arrest Jiang Chen and the others. He quickly said, "Master Xiucai, please calm down."

At the same time, he turned to Jiang Chen and said, "You guys should leave here quickly."

"Leave?"

The old Xiucai sneered, "You can run away, but you can't hide! Let me tell you, you've offended me today. In the future, don't even think about passing the Xiucai exam!"

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Chen's face instantly turned as cold as ice.