Chapter 142 Admission Controversy

Moton was unaware that among the women applying to become female physicians, one was actually Princess Changle. However, Princess Changle had not revealed her true identity and instead participated in the assessment of the Female Medical College under a pseudonym.

It was no coincidence that Li Shimin appeared at the Top Scholar Tower; he had specifically come to escort Princess Changle and happened to seize Moton, the primary culprit, simply by the way.

Under the lure of lucrative prospects in the Mohist Village, Sun Simiao's five female disciples were finally moved. They persuaded their families, agreed to come out of seclusion to take charge of teaching female medicine, resolved the difficulty of faculty staffing for the Female Medical College, and took charge of the enrollment matters.

"Big Girl! Erhua, Xiaoxia!..."

Ziyi was extremely excited, waving vigorously at a group of young maidens emerging from the entrance of the Female Medical College.

"Ziyi..."

Instantly, a large group of maidens swarmed toward Ziyi.

"Stop calling me Big Girl anymore, it's too rustic. My name is Zihan now," said the tall Big Girl with dissatisfaction.

"That's right, my name is Xinyi now, and Xiaoxia's name is Chenxi," Erhua also said with a pouting mouth.

Xiaoxia—no, Chenxi—nodded repeatedly.

"Alright, Big Girl, Erhua, Xiaoxia!"

These were all unmarried maidens from the Mohist Village, a backup plan left by Moton for the Female Medical College.

Although through Mokan's unsparing promotional efforts, neither Moton nor Sun Simiao felt entirely confident about the enrollment turnout of the Female Medical College. Therefore, Moton had seized the opportunity to organize the unmarried maidens of the Mohist Village. If the Female Medical College truly could not find enough applicants, the number of women from the Mohist Village alone would be nearly sufficient, which could also be considered indirectly completing the task.

However, Moton had still underestimated the open-minded social ethos of the Tang Dynasty. The number of women who came to the Female Medical College yesterday exceeded everyone's expectations. Although some had merely come to observe and wait-and-see, the number of actual applicants far surpassed the previous optimistic estimates.

The prepared examination rooms were simply not enough. With no other choice, Sun Simiao immediately decided to hold the examinations in two batches: the first batch exclusively for female physicians, and the second batch exclusively for female nurses. The work originally planned to be completed in a single morning ended up dragging on straight into the afternoon.

As for this group of Mohist Village maidens who officially applied for the female nursing program, they had only just finished their exams now.

"How did you do on the exam?" Ziyi asked with concern. She found being all by herself in Chang'an very boring; if so many of her young friends could stay in Chang'an, she would not be so lonely in the future.

"Not bad. Our exam was quite simple, just for female nurses. We recognized a lot of the characters, so it couldn't stump us at all," Big Girl said with a confident expression.

"Exactly, it wasn't even as difficult as the questions our tutor usually gives us!" Erhua and Xiaoxia chimed in, competing to speak.

Given the scarcity of literacy among women, the content of the assessment for female nurses at the Female Medical College was extremely simple, requiring only a certain level of literacy. In any case, in this era, women's medical foundations were virtually zero, so having a slight foundation or starting entirely from scratch amounted to much the same thing.

Following several months of compulsory education, almost all unmarried young men and women in the Mohist Village possessed a certain foundational level of literacy. Today's Mohist Village could be said to be the place with the highest literacy rate in the entire Tang Dynasty, second only to the imperial palace.

As for the female physicians, they needed a certain knowledge of medicinal herbs and a higher level of cultural knowledge, standards which the maidens of the Mohist Village could not yet reach.

"By the way, do you have any more of those comic books you sent us? They are simply too good, you are so amazing!" A group of maidens surrounded Ziyi, saying with faces full of admiration.

"That was taught to me by the young master," Ziyi said proudly. "The next volume isn't finished yet, it's all back at the Mo Manor. Shall I take you all to go see?"

Instantly, a large group of Mohist Village maidens swarmed toward the Mo Manor.

When Moton recruited these Mohist Village maidens, the location he originally arranged was the Mo Manor, which had plenty of empty rooms. However, Moton had not anticipated that so many would be willing to participate in the female nursing recruitment.

maidens like Big Girl simply did not care what a female nurse was; as long as they heard they were coming to Chang'an, and might possibly stay in Chang'an, any problem was no problem at all. Every single eligible woman in the entire Mohist Village turned out, without a single one missing! After all, the young master would never harm them.

With the Mo Manor occupied by the Mohist Village maidens, Moton—now left wandering the streets and unwilling to stay in the Grade C dormitory he had almost never used—returned to the Top Scholar Tower, intending to make do there for another night.

Night fell, and the chill crept in. Moton still stood clad in a single thin layer of clothing at the very top of the Top Scholar Tower, where a wave of sudden loneliness washed over him.

When he encountered Yuan Shoucheng today, his hair had stood on end and his inner defenses had been raised to the absolute maximum. Yet, upon realizing that Yuan Shoucheng was merely proficient in psychology, he felt deeply disappointed.

He had arrived in this Tang Dynasty territory for no apparent reason, only to be burdened with the heavy responsibility of the impending extinction of Mohism. All along, he had striven to use what he had learned to change this world, yet he had always been fighting a lone battle.

"In my youth, I knew not the flavor of sorrow, yet I forced myself to write new verses to express sorrow," Moton laughed self-deprecatingly. He had not expected that running into Yuan Shoucheng today would almost cause him to lose his composure.

Within his line of sight, the Mo Hospital was brilliantly lit; the physicians on night duty must be busy treating patients, while the Female Medical College also flickered with tiny lights. It was said that the list of admitted female physicians would be announced tomorrow, and presumably the Female Medical College was working through the night to grade examination papers and finalize the admission roster.

As for the imperial palace, Qin Huaiyu had said that Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde had personally donned armor and stationed themselves to guard the imperial city. With the double protection of these fierce door-god generals, Li Shimin would surely sleep very soundly tonight.

Everyone had something they protected, and Moton's protection consisted of those Mohist Village maidens who had usurped his nest and were now too excited to sleep, alongside the five thousand elders and youths of the Mohist Village located fifty miles away.

There were far too many incomprehensible things in this world. Even in later generations, were there not still numerous phenomena that science could not explain? Even if today's time-travel was merely a fleeting dream, he, Moton, would still guard these attachments in his heart well within that dream.

Awakening from sleep, the sky was already bright. Looking out at the street, which remained exceptionally bustling with an endless stream of pedestrians coming and going, Moton was entirely certain that this was a real world, where every person was flesh and blood, and he himself was a true part of it.

Sitting in the lobby of the Top Scholar Tower, he fiercely bit into the steamed buns sent by Master Yu, swallowing them in two or three bites. The solid sensation of filling his stomach made the affectations of sorrow from the previous night vanish completely.

"Young Master! This is terrible!" Ziyi's anxious voice drifted in from outside the Top Scholar Tower.

Indeed, this was still the same world; troublesome matters never ceased.

"What is it?" Moton asked calmly, watching Ziyi run over out of breath.

"Zihan, Xinyi, Chenxi, they all... they all passed the exam!" Ziyi said, gasping for air.

"Zihan? Xinyi? Chenxi?" Moton frowned slightly. These names sounded so familiar!

"It's Big Girl, Erhua, Xiaoxia, and the rest!" Ziyi stamped her foot.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Moton looked at Ziyi in astonishment.

"But the number of people is too high! A lot of people are saying our Mohist Village cheated!" Through Ziyi's intermittent description, Moton finally learned the whole story.

The Female Medical College had admitted fewer than two hundred female nurses in total, yet the maidens of the Mohist Village alone accounted for ninety-three of them.

When the posted results were announced, everyone immediately boiled over with indignation, universally believing that the Female Medical College and the Mohist Village had colluded behind the scenes; otherwise, how could such a terrifying number of candidates have been admitted?

"Oh, come on!"

Moton immediately lost his composure. He put down the half-eaten steamed bun in his hand and bolted out the door.

The Female Medical College was the key to keeping Sun Simiao around. If this matter was botched, he could just wait to be caned!