152 Tang Yuans medical examination begins (1/2)
By the time Jun Mo Xie returned home, Tang Yuan had been waiting a long time for him. In fact, Tang Yuan had reached the Jun residence minutes after Jun Mo Xie had left the place.
”Is it tomorrow?” Jun Mo Xie crossed his legs as he sat down and asked.
”Yes, tomorrow!” Tang Yuan nodded like a rooster on the way to the butcher's. Although his eyes still reflected a slight trace of hope in them: ”Third young master, my brother, I'm relying on you here.”
Then the fat man moved closer to Jun Mo Xie and hugged him!
”Fatty, don't make me vomit, okay. If you do as I say, you will be fine.” Jun Mo Xie hadn't been able to comfort Tang Yuan these past few days, and as a result the Fat man's hands and feet had been trembling with fear the entire time.
The Eunuch Old Zhu, was definitely going to be very thorough with his investigation, and would go far beyond checking just the Xuan Qi of the applicants. In fact, given his disposition, it was evident that he'd play by the rules, and was highly unlikely to favor anyone without merit. Moreover, he'd execute the process very meticulously. No matter what task His Majesty asked Old Zhu to carry out, the Emperor would always carry a sense of trust that the task would be carried out to the letter.
In addition to being very meticulous and precise with his work and responsibilities, Old Zhu had another rather strange habit: An extreme obsession with cleanliness.
Obsession with cleanliness isn't a problem in its own, and many people are cleanliness oriented. The habit of keeping their environment neat and clean isn't an issue when it comes to normal people, but the Eunuch, Old Zhu's obsession was way over the top. He would bathe twice each day, regardless of the season; even excess work load couldn't deter him from taking two baths a day. After each wash, he'd change his clothes right down to his undergarments.
Even if someone touched a tree on the road, Old Zhu would refrain from coming in direct contact with the man from the fear of catching an illness; even His Majesty couldn't help feeling a bit strange about Old Zhu's obsession with cleanliness. It is said that even when His Majesty offers Old Zhu a seat to sit on, the Eunuch first takes out his towel to wipe the chair, and only then does he sit on it; but only half way. He refrains from sitting on the chair properly to avoid heating his buttocks… these strange actions of Old Zhu were known to leave the Emperor stunned and wondering about the man's sanity…
As for his personal belonging, no one was allowed to touch them. Regardless of the value of an item, if someone touched his belongings, then the Eunuch would discard the object; obviously the person would have to pay back in some respect... regardless of which body part of the said person came in contact with his personal belonging, the said body part would be chopped off, even if the contact wasn't deliberate…
The all-seeing Emperor had decided to make the best use of Old Zhu's obsession and had bestowed him with the charge of the Imperial Palace's cleanliness. Obviously, the palace maids were always complaining under his charge. However, the effect was quite marvelous, and the Imperial Palace was regarded as one of the cleanest places in the entire kingdom!
Old Zhu's obsession with cleanliness was a well-known matter, and since everyone knew about it, most people tried their best to avoid coming in contact with him altogether for the fear of offending the Old man as the aftermath was usually considered to be quite devastating. Naturally, Jun Mo Xie had no difficulty in finding out about this matter.
Jun Mo Xie was planning on doing the exact diametric opposite of this, and was hoping that it would help in destroying Tang Yuan's chances of passing the examination!
The Old Eunuch took his work and responsibilities so seriously, that in case there was a problem with Tang Yuan, he wouldn't refrain from mentioning it in his report; even if the fat man belonged to a very influential family.
So naturally, Jun Mo Xie was planning on taking advantage of Old Zhu's obsession with cleanliness to strike out Tang Yuan's chances of getting in!
”Fatty, take this medicine pill one hour before your medical test. Then, when this comes into play, everything will…” Jun Mo Xie winked.
”I will not… this is so disgusting...” Tang Yuan hesitated as Jun Mo Xie handed the pill over to him.
”Then there's nothing that I can do. I have given you a solution, but the rest is up to you. You decided whether you wish to live the life of an insect or that of a free man… hmm, hmm...” Jun Mo Xie hummed twice.
”Okay!” Tang Yuan clutched the pill tightly in his hands as the fat flesh on his face distorted a bit: ”I'll go all out this time!”
”Face it like a brave warrior!” Jun Mo Xie patted him on the shoulder with a friendly look on his face: ”I wish you the best of luck, and I'll silently be standing behind you as you succeed in this mission; my spirit will be there to support you.”
”Is there anything that you can do about the beating that I will get after I fail this test?” Tang Yuan asked in a worried manner: ”After this happens, I'm pretty sure that my father will peal my skin off, and he will probably never give me any money again…”
”I can only sympathize with you in that regard…” Jun Mo Xie sighed deeply as he looked at his friend's impassioned face: ”This will be a thing of the past soon enough, and you'll forget about it sooner than you think. But make sure that you remember this: You mustn't forget to skip your breakfast… Don't eat anything in the morning, okay?”
Tang Yuan nodded solemnly: ”I will remember that.”