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Chapter 3
As the bandage around the splint he had worn on his arm for the past ten days came loose and fell to the floor, his pale forearm, with most of the swelling gone, was revealed.
His bones had not been broken, but since they had been injured quite badly, the physician had fitted him with the splint and instructed him to keep it on for a while.
He had taken his medicine diligently and gone to receive acupuncture every day, so in just ten days, the swelling had completely subsided and the pain had diminished considerably.
There was still some pain when he clenched his fist tightly, but it was no longer enough to prevent him from holding a brush.
“Haegang.”
Just as he was about to leave the house, a voice called out, and he instinctively turned around.
“Grandmother. I told you to sleep in.”
“You little rascal. What grandmother could possibly sleep in on the day her grandson is taking the Hyangsi? You haven’t forgotten anything, have you? Did you pack enough ink?”
“Yes. I brought plenty of ink, paper, and the inkstone.”
“Ah, and the brushes? You brought all your brushes, didn’t you?”
“Of course. Do you think I’d forget my brushes on the way to the Hyangsi? Don’t worry and go back inside and get some more sleep. I’ll do well and come back.”
“Good. Then your grandmother won’t worry about a thing, so you don’t worry either. Go with a peaceful heart and do your best.”
“Yes. I’ll be back.”
After giving her a deep bow, he turned around and hurried toward the Hyangsi examination grounds.
The sons of wealthy families could afford to prepare leisurely because their servants would arrive ahead of them and secure their places. But poor scholars, who were far removed from such luxuries, had to arrive at the examination grounds before sunrise.
Thanks to the travel expenses Baek Pungyeol had provided, his grandmother no longer had to worry about working with her hands for the time being and was able to rest comfortably. That made Haegang’s heart feel even lighter.
“A Saengwon?”
“I’m not a Saengwon. I took the Dongjasi separately. Here.”
Haegang handed the gatekeeper the passing certificate he had received from Baek Pungyeol.
The man checked the name on his identification tablet against the certificate, then opened the way for him.
Upon entering the examination grounds, Haegang saw a fairly long line stretching ahead, while on one side books were piled up like a mountain.
“Books related to the examination are prohibited. You must leave them here before entering! If you are caught with them at the examination grounds, you will be prohibited from taking the Hyangsi again for the rest of your life, so take heed! Even Saengwon are not exempt from this rule, so make absolutely certain that no disgraceful incident occurs!”
A booming voice greeted him the moment he entered.
It seemed they were conducting inspections to prevent any possible cheating.
I don’t remember them inspecting the Saengwon…
Most likely, these inspections were only conducted during the early admission period and would disappear once the Saengwon began entering.
After all, the servants of the Saengwon would obviously enter first and secure their places for them.
But none of that mattered to Haegang.
He already knew this year’s Hyangsi examination questions.
Not only that, he also vaguely remembered the top-scoring answers from Guizhou, Henan, and Shanxi.
He had been a scholar who had at least read a fair amount of books, so although he had never memorized the top answers from every Hyangsi word for word, he had often read them over and over.
Because of that, he vaguely remembered the winning answers from the three provinces this year.
Of course, he had not spent the past ten days merely planning to stitch those answers together.
Based on the memories of his previous life, he had already thought through how he could write smoother and more polished answers.
“Is this everything?”
The official conducting the inspection asked while looking at Haegang’s simple luggage, which contained little more than basic writing implements.
It seemed strange to him that such a young scholar would enter the examination grounds without even bringing a single ordinary book.
“Yes.”
Apparently still unconvinced, the middle-aged man gave a signal to one of his subordinates.
A soldier wearing a sword then personally searched Haegang’s body.
“You seem to have come simply to gain some experience. This examination isn’t held every year, so there is nothing wrong with experiencing it at least once. Go on in.”
Haegang gave a slight bow and entered the examination grounds.
Many servants had already occupied the front rows.
Even so, leaving home early had helped him, and although he could not secure a seat right at the very front, he managed to find one fairly close to the front.
He sat down, unpacked his belongings, and prepared for the examination.
Then he closed his eyes and once again organized in his mind how he would supplement his answers.
He became so absorbed in the answers he had prepared that he lost track of time.
Then a familiar voice reached his ears.
“Huh? Who do we have here?”
“Ha, seriously… This fellow really doesn’t know his place.”
“He was making such a big fuss about participating in the Yeongseo Chochin… So this is what he was counting on?”
Haegang opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the voices.
As expected, three familiar faces were standing over him with mocking smiles.
“How did someone who isn’t even a Saengwon get in here?”
“He probably squeezed every last bit of money out of his poor household to buy a passing certificate. What a shameless fellow.”
The man who gave you that passing certificate is your own father, you fool.
Baek Yeongjun.
The only son of Baek Pungyeol.
From a young age, he had always associated with the son of the former magistrate and the youngest son of the Seongchan merchant family, and among them, he had been especially relentless in tormenting Haegang.
Haegang had thought that breaking the legs of his household servants had allowed him to vent some of his anger.
But seeing the way this fellow was running his mouth now made the debt of vengeance inside him boil once more.
Apparently, there was still quite a lot left to repay.
“…”
Haegang knew very well that causing a commotion now would only put him at a disadvantage, so he deliberately closed his eyes and concentrated solely on the examination.
Those idiots had enough backing to get away with causing a considerable disturbance.
Haegang had no such backing.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
The three idiots clicked their tongues and gave him contemptuous looks.
Even as they walked toward the seats their servants had prepared, they loudly muttered about how shameless he was and how he didn’t even know the meaning of embarrassment.
But Haegang had already begun concentrating, so their voices barely bothered him.
Eventually, the examination began, and the question was announced.
—Ah!
—Hmm!
—This…
The moment the examination topic was revealed, lamentations and sighs erupted from all around.
Many were thrown into confusion by the difficult question.
But Haegang calmly dipped his brush into the ink and began writing as though he had been waiting for this moment.
His forearm was still throbbing slightly, but fortunately, the pain was not severe enough to affect his handwriting.
His handwriting was not particularly extraordinary, but he had spent decades of his previous life holding a brush.
That experience remained intact in his body, so his writing was at least pleasing enough to look at.
He wrote without pause, rapidly setting down the answers he had already organized in his mind.
At some point, a long shadow fell across his answer sheet.
Haegang stopped the brush that had never once paused and briefly raised his head.
“Hm? Ah, my apologies. I unintentionally got in your way.”
The man who spoke while quickly stepping backward to remove his shadow was the middle-aged official who had inspected his belongings at the entrance that morning.
Even after stepping back, however, the man could not take his eyes off Haegang’s answer sheet.
Well, I suppose it’s only natural.
Haegang was rapidly writing down a polished version of answers based on the top-scoring responses from three provinces.
Compared to the other examinees, he was bound to look unusual.
When Haegang resumed moving his brush, he could feel the middle-aged man’s intense gaze upon him.
Eventually, he filled the answer sheet completely and put down his brush.
“Surely… y-you’ve already finished?”
The middle-aged man, apparently still watching him, approached and asked.
Haegang merely nodded.
“That’s only the first draft… You didn’t even revise it?”
“Yes. I’ve written down everything I had in mind, so there is nothing more to add or remove.”
“Ah…!”
As Haegang stood up, he noticed that the man’s gaze had completely changed from that morning.
Since he was unquestionably the first person in the entire examination hall to rise, everyone’s attention turned toward him.
But with the middle-aged official standing beside him, not a single person dared to make a careless remark.
“Give it to me. I’ll collect it myself.”
The man carefully dried Haegang’s answer sheet, blowing gently over it as though he were handling a precious family heirloom.
He even walked with exaggerated care.
Haegang watched him for a moment before gathering his belongings.
As he was packing them away, the middle-aged official, who had carefully placed Haegang’s answer sheet in its designated location, hurried back.
“Are you planning to go straight to the second examination hall?”
“Yes. I’ve done everything I need to do here.”
It was unusual for anyone to move on to the second examination so quickly during the three-stage Hyangsi.
“That is true. But going there early won’t let you see the next question ahead of time.”
“I know.”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to read any books concerning laws and institutions either.”
“Yes. That’s why I didn’t bring even a single book into the examination grounds.”
“…Right.”
The middle-aged man had personally been responsible for inspecting the examinees since early dawn, so he knew better than anyone that there wasn’t even a common Confucian classic in Haegang’s bundle.
The second examination of the Hyangsi required the examinees to write one essay concerning laws and regulations and five articles concerning institutions and systems.
“Then I’ll show you the way.”
With those words, the middle-aged man beckoned.
An examiner sitting some distance away immediately came running over and took his place, watching the surrounding area.
“I’ve seen quite a number of Palgomon while serving as an examiner, but your writing certainly stands out. Forget your handwriting for a moment—it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Palgomon that was this pleasing to both the eyes and ears.”
The first examination of the Hyangsi required candidates to compose passages based on the meaning of designated Confucian classics.
It was commonly conducted in the Palgomon style, a form whose name carried the meaning of constructing eight pillars.
Since examinees competed over how deeply they understood the classics through the same formal structure, it was an excellent method for comparing the quality of their answers.
That was why the first examination was considered the most important part of the Hyangsi, and why every scholar devoted himself to studying the classics and mastering Palgomon.
For Haegang to finish the flower of the Hyangsi—the first examination—with a single uninterrupted flow of writing and then rise without hesitation was bound to catch the attention of the middle-aged examiner.
“We still have plenty of time… How about coming out for a cup of tea with me?”
During the Hyangsi, it was certainly not a good look for an examiner and an examinee to sit privately over tea.
That said, it was not unheard of for examiners to exchange pleasantries or have tea with examinees they already knew.
“The time and place aren’t appropriate, so I think it would be better to have tea another time. However, if you would keep me company and help ease my nerves while I wait for the second examination, I would gladly enjoy a conversation with you.”
The invitation to tea had really been an invitation to talk privately anyway, so the middle-aged man smiled as he began walking.
Haegang had politely declined the tea while asking the older man to keep him company in conversation.
For someone so young, it was remarkably tactful, while also showing considerable consideration toward his elder.
After moving to the second examination hall, the middle-aged man and Haegang continued their conversation for quite some time.
Their topics were broad.
They discussed everything from Haegang’s family circumstances to their respective thoughts on the Confucian classics.
The conversation wandered without any particular order.
Yet the dialogue between the two never once stopped.
“Good heavens. For your grandmother to raise her grandson so splendidly all by herself… What a heartwarming story. This is the sort of tale that could even be talked about within the Imperial Palace.”
Hearing the man praise his grandmother for supporting the household alone while raising her grandson so well gave Haegang a strange sense of comfort.
The longer the middle-aged man spoke with Haegang, the more he felt as though he were not conversing with an unfamiliar child, but with an old friend of the same age.
There was no sense of difference between generations, seniors and juniors, or even life experience.
With merely a few words, each understood precisely what the other meant, and the conversation flowed naturally.
It was remarkably comfortable.
What a pity.
If the time and place had been different, he could have started with good tea and eventually moved on to liquor, spending a long time having a deeper conversation with the young man before him.
The regret grew stronger.
As they enjoyed their conversation, the examinees who had finished the second examination began arriving one by one at the third examination hall.
Among them was the trio that seemed determined to make Haegang’s life miserable.
But they did not dare utter a single foolish word in front of the middle-aged man serving as examiner.
Soon, the sound of a bell rang out.
The examinees from the first examination hall filled the long pavilion in orderly rows, and the second examination began.
—Tap.
As Haegang put down the brush he had been wielding in one uninterrupted flow, the three idiots who had taken seats beside him frowned and shot him hostile looks.
“You just scribbled down whatever came to mind.”
“You’re an idiot if you think attracting the examiner’s attention like that will help.”
“You actually think something like that will work? Someone of such a lowly background—”
The middle-aged man frowned at the trio’s obvious behavior and approached them.
“Who dares engage in idle chatter during the examination?!”
—…
The three immediately shut their mouths and lowered their eyes beneath the examiner’s stern expression.
“Open those mouths one more time and I’ll throw you out immediately. If you have the confidence, go ahead and open those proud mouths again.”
“S-sorry. We were just dumbfounded by such a ridiculous display of skill…”
Before the fellow could even finish speaking, contempt began to appear in the middle-aged man’s eyes.
No matter how easily people could be influenced by the actions of others in an examination hall, what he had just said was something that no scholar who claimed to study the classics should ever utter.
The three men quickly shut their mouths after seeing the contempt in his eyes.
But it was already too late.
The middle-aged man shook his head and turned his attention toward Haegang’s answer sheet.
He lifted the sheet and looked over the truly flawless answer.
A pleased expression appeared on his face as he spoke.
“It hasn’t even been one shichen.”
“Hasn’t it?”
This was an essay examination.
Simply writing an answer without hesitation in such an examination was enough to demonstrate how profound Haegang’s learning was, especially considering his young age.
At an age when youthful arrogance would have been understandable, he could easily have puffed out his chest and displayed pride.
Yet he simply asked the question calmly.
The middle-aged man stared intently at Haegang.
His expression seemed to silently say:
Now that’s what a scholar should be.
“Did you revise it this time either?”
“No. I simply wrote down what I had already thought through…”
“There’s nothing to remove or add?”
At the middle-aged man’s question, Haegang smiled and nodded.
Once again, the middle-aged man carefully dried the answer sheet in his hands, gently blowing over it.
Even while doing so, he did not forget to glare toward the back.
The three idiots shrank back and merely watched him nervously.
After placing the answer sheet where it belonged, the middle-aged man hurried back and spoke.
“Then let us go to the third examination hall.”
“Yes.”
Once again, Haegang moved to the next examination hall alongside the examiner.
Many examinees looked at him with envy, while the trio glared at his back with eyes that seemed ready to burn holes through him.
—What on earth is his relationship with that examiner…?
—They must be teacher and disciple, surely.
—If not, they must be related by blood. Definitely…
—Silence! Who dares engage in idle chatter during the Hyangsi?!
The small murmurs were immediately silenced by the examiner’s thunderous command.
Even at the examination hall where the third examination would take place, the conversation between the middle-aged man and Haegang continued without pause.
Their discussion also touched upon current policies and political problems.
Haegang spoke freely even on such subjects.
“The beginning of Palgomon was certainly good. But just because its purpose and origins were good doesn’t mean it can remain good forever. Just as the world is impermanent, there is ultimately nothing that remains unchanged.”
“And yet your Palgomon was remarkably excellent.”
“I am also a flawed man. Even knowing that it has become a harmful practice, I couldn’t escape its current like a worldly man. As someone who has studied the classics, it is something of which I should be ashamed.”
The shortcomings of Palgomon were already an issue known to everyone.
Even so, because there was no alternative and because it had become customary, the Palgomon format remained firmly established as the foundation of the Hyangsi.
The middle-aged man could clearly tell that Haegang’s words, despite still carrying the tone of a boy, were not merely those of a child imitating the convincing words of adults.
They were his own definite opinions.
Haegang’s views on Palgomon were the sort of insights that normally could only be gained through many years of experience far beyond his age.
The middle-aged man could not help but nod.
After all, he himself had reached his current position through precisely such a process.
“You know, whenever I speak with you, I feel as though an old man has somehow been placed inside a child’s body. You aren’t like the other children your age who have grown up doing nothing but reading books.”
“My circumstances have merely given me a lower perspective on the world. If I have dirtied your ears with my words, I apologize.”
“Ha…”
Even a casual remark was met with a thoughtful response carrying genuine weight.
“I know that your perspective is that of the common people, and that your circumstances are those of the common people as well. Today’s meeting with you truly is a precious connection.”
He instinctively felt that today’s encounter would remain among the most precious moments of his life.
As his conversation with the middle-aged man deepened, the examinees who had finished the second examination began filling the hall as well.
The third examination consisted of five questions on policy and current affairs.
Haegang finished writing his answers even more quickly this time than he had in the first and second examinations.
In a way, it was only natural that he could solve the third examination’s questions faster than the Palgomon writing of the first or the essay of the second.
But to the other examinees, it was anything but natural.
Once again, the middle-aged man personally collected Haegang’s answer sheet and looked over it, nodding unconsciously.
Strictly speaking, such behavior could be considered inappropriate, as it might be interpreted as revealing the answers to the examination.
But the middle-aged man already knew that Haegang would never change his answers.
So he acted without hesitation.
From the moment Haegang finished writing his final answer, the two of them were no longer merely examiner and examinee.
As Haegang left the examination grounds, the middle-aged man quickly followed him and spoke.
“You must be the first person in history to leave the Hyangsi examination grounds while the sun is still shining brightly.”
Normally, examinees entered early in the morning, ate two or even three meals inside, and could not leave until after sunset.
That was why bringing candles to the Hyangsi was considered essential.
Yet he had lived to see the day when an examinee left the Hyangsi grounds while there was not even the slightest sign that the sun was about to set.
“Just because I finished quickly doesn’t mean I did well. I was merely rash because of my lack of experience, so please don’t criticize me too harshly.”
“Ha…”
From the first examination, the middle-aged man had noticed Haegang’s extraordinary abilities and personally collected every one of his answer sheets with the utmost care.
Among the countless answer sheets produced during the Hyangsi, seeing one like this was exceedingly rare.
How could he possibly call the boy arrogant for producing such an answer?
The boy had every reason to be proud, yet he displayed humility to the very end.
Without a doubt, this remarkable boy’s answer sheets would be filtered through the countless submissions from across the empire and sent to the Imperial City, where they would compete for the title of Haeweon.
“My name is Go Yukhyun. If you ever need my help, come find me in Hyeonhak.”
As he spoke, he handed Haegang a wooden name tablet.
!!
Haegang’s eyes widened as he accepted the wooden tablet.
