I Go Fishing for My Master in the Northern Song Dynasty (Imperial Exams)

When Xie Yan was seven, he left Shu with his father to study under a teacher.

Before they left, his father clasped his hands and said, "Brother Zizhan, I entrust my son to you."

Xie Yan stood there in a daze for a long while. Wait, his teacher was Su Shi?!

His teacher was wonderful, treating him like his own son and patiently guiding him.

In the second year of the Yuanfeng era, Xie Yan came first in the palace examinations. He was summoned for an examination at the Secret Pavilion, placed in the third class, and appointed an editor at the Historiography Institute and a judge in the Court of Announcements. For a time, he was unrivaled, his reputation matching his teacher's.

That July, his teacher was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Xie Yan did not even get the chance to face the emperor. It was simple: his rank was too low. He needed a promotion.

The following February, just after Xie Yan received his promotion, a letter arrived from home. His teacher was doing all right, but he had added at the end: "There are many snakes in Huangzhou, and I dare not lodge there. Dear student, come fish me out."

Xie Yan got right to it! He hauled his teacher out of Huangzhou in one go!

At the time, the old and new factions were locked in fierce conflict at court, and his teacher was allowed to return.

Xie Yan had barely enjoyed a couple of peaceful days when another letter arrived. His teacher wept in the letter: "Huizhou is full of miasma, and I am ill. Dear student, come fish me out."

Xie Yan sat bolt upright, near death from shock. Hadn't his teacher just been appointed prefect of Dingzhou? When had he been exiled to Lingnan?!

Xie Yan tried to fish him out again! He was too heavy, though. Xie Yan couldn't manage it, so he decided to get another promotion first!

Who would have thought that Xie Yan, newly returned to the capital for an official post, would receive another letter from his teacher before he could even catch his breath? The letter lamented: "I was making ink and accidentally blew up my house in Danzhou. I'm writing this letter with charcoal. Dear student, come fish me out again. Please, fish me out!"

Xie Yan was stunned. How had his teacher been demoted and exiled all the way to Hainan? Outrageous!

Xie Yan wrote fifteen memorials at the Censorate, impeaching the Luo faction and then the Shuo faction. He personally blocked the doors of the chief ministers, wearing them down with one plea after another, and finally managed to fish his teacher out.

Xie Yan puts his hands on his hips. Looking back, he has risen to the highest rank. Who in the world can match him now?

Reader's Note:

1. Set in an alternate Northern Song, with no historical accuracy, just jokes.

2. In all seriousness, it's an imperial-examination and food-themed novel.

New novel, Setting Up a Food Stall Outside the Imperial Academy, available for pre-registration

When Shen Zhizhi opens her eyes, she realizes she has transmigrated.

She has arrived in a modest household in Bianjing.

Her father has barely breathed his last when her third uncle steals the secret recipe from the Shen family's eatery and sells it to the Imperial Academy's kitchen.

By chance, this coincides with the emperor inspecting the Imperial Academy. He praises its delicious buns, declaring that scholars can be raised without shame on food like this.

From then on, the Imperial Academy's buns become famous. With her father's death, Shen Zhizhi's family loses their ancestral recipe and business plummets. The eatery closes, and they even lose the shop itself.

Shen Zhizhi looks back at her frail widowed mother and her younger siblings, faint with hunger. How can she put up with this?!

As a chef trained to the highest level, Shen Zhizhi is certain that running an eatery is well within her abilities.

Not only that, she is going to set up a food stall outside the Imperial Academy!

Soup dumplings, hot and sour noodles, fish soup noodles, pan-fried wontons, grilled sausages, and more. Their aroma wafts for miles, tempting even the Imperial Academy students who devote themselves to nothing but the sages' books!

Everyone knows that a beautiful young woman has opened a food stall outside the Imperial Academy. Her food is delicious and reasonably priced. Hurry and get in line, or you'll miss out!

Shen Zhizhi saves up enough money to buy back the shop. Not only that, she expands it and opens a restaurant, supports her younger brother as he gets into the best academy, and watches life grow brighter and brighter!

New novels, The Daily Life of a Commoner's Daughter Taking the Imperial Examinations, Building a Rich and Powerful Nation in the Foolish Emperor Simulator, and After I Was Widowed, My Former Fiance Took Me by Cunning Means, available for pre-registration. Thanks for your support, dears!

Theme: Work hard, make your own way, never give up on yourself or others, and love life!