#Third trap: The Literacy Contest
The First Contest
The scholar was young, perhaps thirty five or thirty-six years old, with the arrogance that came from genuine knowledge coupled with complete absence of wisdom.
He stood before Luo He's table now surrounded by other scholars and nobles who had gathered to witness what promised to be an entertaining display of intellectual superiority.
"I have heard stories about you," the young scholar said. His tone dripping with condescension. "They say you are educated. They say you are cultured."
"But I suspect these are merely lies told by those who wish to elevate a common man beyond his station. I say you are a fool living off a woman. Chosen for nothing but your face." He said proudly.
He produced a brush and paper, his movements deliberate and theatrical.
"I will write ten characters," he announced. "If you can read all ten, provide correct pronunciation and meaning, I will slap my self before you."
"If you cannot however you will slap your self before me and accept my absolute superiority." He said. Luo He studied the young man with the kind of calm interest that suggested he found the challenge more amusing than threatening.
"I accept." Luo He replied simply. "But I should warn you, I am not as educated as you may have heard." The scholar's smile widened. He had already convinced himself of victory.
He wrote the ten characters with careful precision, his brush strokes deliberate, his presentation suggesting these were characters of extraordinary difficulty. He turned the paper toward Luo He and waited.
Luo He examined the characters. He recognized all ten with no effort, his knowledge was extensive despite his disclaimers.
But he didn't act all knowing. He gave an expression of genuine struggle. Then he red seven without hesitation and also red the eight one right after some struggle.
Immediately Luo He raised his hand and struck himself across the face, not violently, not with tremendous force, but with a deliberate, mediocre-level slap that communicated clear acceptance of defeat.
"I can read eight of these characters, that's it." He said politely. "But the ninth and tenth escape me. I have lost. I accept my fate." He said calmly.
The scholar's face went completely pale.
"Eight?" he whispered, his voice carrying shock rather than triumph. "You read eight of them?" The reality had struck him with devastating clarity.
Luo He had correctly identified eight of the ten characters. The ones the scholar himself had struggled to compose. He expected this nobody to accept defeat unable to read even one.
Not even he was sure of the meaning of the last character. Even he only knew the pronouncing and meaning of only nine.
Luo He for good measure asked for the meaning and pronunciation of the last two as if genuinely interested in knowing something he didn't. But in reality it was to check whether the man actually knew.
The scholar was stardled by the question. He never expected him to even read one character, let alone be so decisive. He struggles and pronounced the first character and it's meaning correctly.
Then he pronounced the last character but struggled at its meanings. But instead of accepting his blank spot he genuinely acted confident and gave a false meaning "to steal or stealing". Luo He noticed the lie immediately.
He raised his hand politely and asked the audience gathered isn't this character meaning to "cheat or play around, meaning something like scandal". He asked.
Another scholar came up to the table and red it out loud and agreed with Luo He. This man is actually right he said. The scholar who came to humiliate him got slapped right across his face, figuratively.
He was very ashamed so he challenged him once again. He would write another ten characters and if Luo He reads five right he would cowtow and accept Luo He as his superior.
Luo He once again agreed without hesitation. He was bored and was dying for some entertainment and he finally got some, so why back down now.
"Now because you have red eight of the previous, then I should now write harder characters." The scholar said, frustration bleeding through his composure.
"This time, I will write ten of the most difficult characters I know. Read five of them correctly. Fail, and you will kowtow before me."
The scholar's confidence seemed restored by this arrangement. He ran from the chamber, seeking his master, the elderly scholar who oversaw the Wu kingdom's entire academic circle.
When the master arrived, he began to write with intense focus, his brush moving with the deliberation of someone creating something deliberately impossible.
He wrote ten characters that were so archaic, so obscure, that they barely appeared in any texts preserved in modern times. He handed the paper to Luo He with obvious satisfaction.
The Second Contest
Luo He examined the ten characters. He recognized his vast accumulated knowledge served him well even with these ancient symbols.
But two characters remained genuinely unknown to him. Without hesitation, he activated his armor's AI database, searching for any reference to these characters in any stored text.
The AI provided information on two additional characters. Combined with his eight, he now had knowledge of ten characters.
Though one of the AI's translations was deliberately altered by Luo He himself, just to make it more fun. He began to speak carefully.
"The first character means, "Luminous beauty." He stated, providing both pronunciation and meaning correctly. The elderly scholar nodded in approval.
"The second character means, "Ancient." He continued, again providing accurate information. More nods.
"The third character means, "Celestial or something more like the Sky or Stars." He said, offering another correct answer. The young scholar's face was beginning to pale.
"For the fourth," Luo He continued. "I believe it means, "Shadow." Though I am not very certain of this one." He had deliberately been providing incorrect information.
A test to determine if the master actually understood his own compositions. The master's face showed uncertainty, but he nodded as though Luo He had been correct.
"That is... yes, that appears correct," the master said hesitantly. "And the fifth," Luo He said. "I cannot determine anything else. I have already exhausted most my knowledge at the first three characters."
The young scholar immediately stood, triumph flooding his features. "You only read four correctly!" He shouted. "The agreement was five! You have failed! Now you must kowtow before me!"
"Wait," Luo He replied calmly. "Before I kowtow, you must read at least five of these characters yourself. Otherwise, you are making demands based on your master's knowledge, not your own."
"I will only kowtow to someone who has demonstrated equal understanding." Jin Mulan appeared beside him at precisely this moment, her presence radiating dangerous intensity.
She fixed the young scholar with a stare so penetrating that he seemed to physically shrink. The scholar nervously approached the characters, his hands trembling slightly.
He could not recognize even a single character, except for the four characters that Luo He had correctly identified. So he had simply repeated them after Luo He's pronunciations.
But when he attempted to identify any others, his mind went blank again. He examined all ten characters once again systematically, searching for any that seemed familiar.
Apart from the once Luo He had named, the rest remained completely unknown to him. "You only know the once my husband told you?" Jin Mulan interrupted, her voice sharp as a blade.
"You know nothing else do you." She stepped forward, her hand moving in a gesture that made the young scholar instinctively retreat.
"You challenged my husband," she continued, her tone dropping into something genuinely dangerous. "You claimed he was a fool."
A few surrounding scholars started discussing. "Yes. This man had a point, how could Jong Le be his superior if he doesn't even know one of these characters. He is only good as his masters knowledge."
"You said he was uneducated. But he read four of your master's characters correctly. You cannot read even one of them without him telling you the answer first." She continued.
Then she gestured toward him with a highly contemptuous grace.
"My husband never went to school. He has no formal education. Yet he knows more than you. He demonstrated this before all of these scholars."
"And now you attempt to escape your loss through technicality?" She hissed. "But the agreement..." The young scholar began. "The agreement is that you kowtow before my husband." Jin Mulan said flatly.
"Or I will break your legs and make you kowtow. I don't take it lightly when someone insults my husband and then attempts to betray their own words."
The threat was delivered with such absolute conviction that every person in the chamber understood she would absolutely follow through. The young scholar had no choice.
He kowtowed before Luo He the full student teacher bow, his entire body trembling with rage and humiliation. He was publicly defeated by a man who claimed to be uneducated.
Humiliated by a woman who had threatened to break his legs. He was forced into submission before dozens of witnesses. He didn't have a choice, he felt like peeing in his pants when that terrifying woman even got close to him.