Chapter 56: Tianrui and Tianling

However, the young brother and sister were gazing at him with hopeful anticipation at that moment.

Chen Ping found it difficult to refuse.

Moreover, the little boy had just mentioned that they were nameless.

This meant the siblings intended to take Chen Ping’s surname.

Looked at this way, it was equivalent to adding two members to the Chen family.

The young boy possessed commendable courage, integrity, and a strong sense of gratitude. But what Chen Ping valued most in him was his foresight and unyielding spirit. Since that was the case, he bestowed upon him the name "Rui" to signify profound wisdom and clarity of mind.

As for the little girl, she had not uttered a single word from the very beginning. Her older brother had spoken on her behalf for everything, lacking the liveliness proper for a child of her age. Chen Ping hoped that she would eventually find this lost spark of childhood amidst a better life in the future, so he gave her the name "Ling."

With this thought in mind, Chen Ping gently clapped his hands and said solemnly.

"In that case, how about Chen Tianrui and Chen Tianling?"

The little boy immediately led his sister in kowtowing, crying out in unison.

"Thank you, Young Master, for bestowing our names upon us!"

"Chen Tianrui and Chen Tianling will forever remember the Young Master's grace and kindness!"

Chen Ping spoke his expectations in a soft voice.

"Tianrui, Tianling, as you go to the dyeing workshop this time, my greatest hope is that you will both become clever and astute, mastering a craft as soon as possible. Only by relying on your own skills can you stand independently, so that you will never suffer such hardships again in the future."

Rescuing these two siblings was merely an impulse born of momentary passion, coupled with the social values left over from his past life.

He had never once thought of making these two thin, frail little beings repay him with anything.

Yet Chen Ping could also roughly guess that from this moment on, an unbreakable bond had been forged between the two siblings and himself, as well as the Chen family.

Such were the rules of the era, and it was best to let nature take its course; besides, this was by no means a bad thing.

The three of them took Chen Tianrui and Chen Tianling directly back to Huating Academy to stay for the night.

The He family’s efficiency was remarkably swift.

Early the next morning.

The manager dispatched by the He family to Qingsong Town hurried over and led them to the commercial firm.

They planned to join a trade caravan and travel back to Jiangxia shortly.

Chen Ping went to see them off. Looking at the clean faces of the two siblings, where the look of panic had vanished, replaced by a yearning for their future lives, his own heart finally settled quite a bit.

Leaving aside the saying that saving a life builds a seven-tier pagoda, at the very least, this allowed him to maintain his moral baseline and provided an account to his own conscience.

A moral baseline was extremely easy to break.

Sometimes it took only a split second, a single wandering thought.

Yet raising it back up in the future, or trying to make it whole again, was a task of supreme difficulty.

...

Having seen the siblings off, Chen Ping was about to return to the academy to study.

As he passed the porter's lodge, he was informed there was a letter for him.

Checking the sender's name on the envelope, Chen Ping saw it had been mailed from the county government office, bearing the joint signatures of Elder Ye and Magistrate Wang.

Just as he received it, Chen Ping initially thought it was merely Elder Ye's routine correspondence.

It would likely contain nothing more than exhortations to apply himself to his studies, assurances that everything was well with him, and words telling him not to worry.

However, the moment Chen Ping opened it, he was stunned on the spot.

The letter stated that Magistrate Wang was once again inquiring whether Chen Ping had made up his mind to take the path of the Imperial Examination for Youths.

If he was certain, he needed to set off immediately and make a trip to the county seat.

His identity had to be verified at the county office, where he would sign and affix his thumbprint, after which Magistrate Wang would submit the roster to the prefecture office.

Holding the thin sheet of letter paper, Chen Ping leaned back against a large tree in the academy courtyard and gazed up at the sky in deep contemplation for a long time.

Back in the county seat, he had long ago set his sights on leveraging his talent in mathematics to attain scholarly honor through the Imperial Examination for Youths.

As long as he crammed some contemporary essays and classical texts and made a bold gamble, he should have a chance to seize this hard-earned opportunity.

Yet upon returning to the academy, especially after reuniting with his little companions, Chen Ping hesitated once more.

Because He Qingxuan and Ye Chongwen were walking the orthodox path of the civil service examinations, which followed a completely different process from his own.

If he chose the Imperial Examination for Youths to take the lead, he would inevitably be unable to walk side-by-side with them on the road of the imperial examinations.

Although the three of them had not known each other for very long, Chen Ping had long since regarded them as kindred brothers.

The very thought of parting ways so soon if he took the Youth Examination naturally left him feeling somewhat unsettled.

Time, however, waited for no one; if this shortcut did not exist, so be it.

Since he had found the fastest path to attaining scholarly honor, he ought not to abandon it.

If he were to waste a decade or two on the imperial examinations like other ordinary scholars just to finally earn a degree, secure a minor official post, and gain exemption from taxes and corvée labor, it would all be too late.

Putting aside the impact on his future prospects, Chen Ping was still young after all, and he could afford to wait for anything.

What about Chen Duohai and his wife, though? Could they afford to wait as well?

Every additional year he hesitated out of such selfish sentiments meant his parents would have to endure hardship for another year and pay taxes for another year—and that was no small burden.

Since he had come into this world, he had to accomplish something; even if he ultimately failed to achieve his wishes, he would at least have a clear conscience.

With this thought, the hesitation in Chen Ping's mind cleared away, leaving him entirely free of stray distractions.

He made up his mind to participate in the Imperial Examination for Youths.

Returning to his room, he packed his belongings simply and briefed He Qingxuan and Ye Chongwen on the matter.

Then, holding the letter, he sought out the steward in charge of the academy's miscellaneous affairs.

The steward was an elderly scholar who had failed to advance beyond the preliminary examinations. Upon learning that Chen Ping was about to take part in the Imperial Examination for Youths, two bright flashes instantly erupted in his dim eyes, and his admiration was beyond words.

A child prodigy!

Huating Academy was about to produce a prodigy capable of participating in the Imperial Examination for Youths.

In his eyes, this was akin to a mountain pheasant flying out as a golden phoenix.

Although Huating Academy possessed a certain reputation within the county.

In the scale of the entire Dayu Dynasty, it was by no means a renowned academy with a long history and profound heritage.

Therefore, as long as a student could participate in the Imperial Examination for Youths, regardless of the outcome or whether he passed, it was a matter that brought immense honor to the institution.

The steward hurriedly had his subordinates pull over a carriage, personally boarded it to inspect the interior twice over, and even laid a layer of bedding inside the carriage before respectfully inviting Chen Ping to board.

His actions had their own sound reasoning.

Officially, this was a prodigy going forth to bring glory to Huating Academy; in the future, he might well become the very face of the academy, so he naturally had to be treated with the utmost care.

Unofficially, as an aged scholar frustrated in the examination halls for decades, seeing such a prodigy naturally stirred within him a deep appreciation for talent.

Moreover, the steward's actions made Chen Ping quite certain of one thing.

Before he had even journeyed halfway, the entire Huating Academy would likely know about his impending participation in the Imperial Examination for Youths.

Empty fame was a burden, but what time was it now?

Chen Ping had no choice but to shoulder this empty fame.

Because Huating Academy desperately needed this reputation to elevate its standing, and he himself needed this prestige to improve his family's circumstances.

Sure enough, no sooner had Chen Ping departed than He Qingxuan and Ye Chongwen heard this "astounding news" from their fellow students.

"Look who his brother is; taking part in the Imperial Examination for Youths is nothing if not entirely natural, isn't it?"

Clearly, they were far calmer than the others, having already known about it beforehand.

Prior to this, they had never publicized it outside, purely to avoid speaking too soon, letting the news spread, and denying Chen Ping room to make his own choice.

Now that they saw Chen Ping had made his final decision, the two little companions naturally felt compelled to boast a bit.

It was only when the two of them went on a senseless display of pride in front of Li Yang that they met with a ruthless blow.

Li Yang held a roll of books and spoke with feigned seriousness.

"It seems our academy's scholarly atmosphere has grown even more robust. This is a capital event!"

"However, the academy can hardly rely solely on a single prodigy like Chen Ping to make a name for itself, can it?"

"The evaluation that best reflects an academy's standard is the continuous emergence of talent."

"To my mind, when we publicize this to the outside world, we might as well announce that Huating Academy has produced three candidates for the Imperial Examination for Youths. Once the title of 'Three Prodigies of One Academy' goes out, it should make the academy's fame soar even higher!"

With that, Li Yang smiled broadly as he looked at He Qingxuan and Ye Chongwen.

"As for the other two of these 'Three Prodigies,' I think the two of you would fit the role to perfection."

"They say birds of a feather flock together, and people divide by groups. Since you can play around with Chen Ping, your innate talents shouldn't fall too far behind either. With some hard work, there is still hope."

"Tell me, how does this proposal sound?"

Upon hearing this, He Qingxuan and Ye Chongwen simultaneously stepped back a few paces.

They recalled Chen Ping's frantic, madness-like recitation of books during that period.

They thought of those towering stacks of scrolls.

And they thought of the dense, tiny standard script characters written on the yellow paper.

The two of them cried out with mournful faces.

"Master, we were wrong!"

"Spare our lives!"