After transmigrating to the Great Yong, Zhou Quan finds himself listed among the dead.
When a vassal prince dies, commoners are buried in his tomb as human sacrifices. Once autumn arrives, Zhou Quan will be forced into Prince Su’s tomb to accompany him in death.
The county-level examination is just thirty days away. His own death is less than half a year off.
With nothing but bare walls at home, his mother has pawned her dowry silver hairpin for a mere two taels of broken silver. With no books to study, Zhou Quan has only his perfect memory to serve as his library.
When wealthy gentry sneer, “A peasant like you thinks you’re fit to study?” Zhou Quan gives them one answer: “In thirty days, I’ll be either a licentiate or a dead man.”
After committing the Four Books and Five Classics to memory and learning to read the schemes of men and ghosts, he wagers everything on himself at the gambling table, betting he will take first place in the exam.
When County Magistrate Wei slams the table and cries, “A genius capable of mastering heaven and earth!” the once-arrogant father and son of the Li family have no idea...
Zhou Quan never wanted fame or rank. All he wants is to tear that list of sacrificial victims to shreds with his own hands.
[This book features decisive action, an imperial-exam comeback, a protagonist who isn’t saintly, and no excessive suffering for the protagonist.]
