“If I pass the imperial examination and become a jinshi, the court will grant my mother the title of Lady. By then, I wonder what kind of expression that main wife, Mrs. Harris, will have?”

　　William Grant muttered twice, “Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Harris...” and a flash of hatred appeared in his eyes.

　　William Grant could never forget, when he was seven years old and just beginning to understand things, during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet at the marquis’s residence, with the hall full of guests, his father and the guests were reciting poetry. Just because his mother joined in with a line, she was immediately scolded in public by the main wife: “Improper conduct, unchaste, unable to shed the habits of the brothel.”

　　That night, after returning home, his mother was so angered that her blood became congested, she coughed up blood and was injured. Two months later, she died of illness. When she died of anger, his mother was only twenty-five years old.

　　“After the spring exam this time, I’m almost fully prepared, but I still need to ponder a bit more.”

　　William Grant thought to himself, closed the classics and policy essays, and opened a copy of “Notes from the Thatched Cottage.”

　　The cover of this book was very new, but the paper was very old, clearly an old book that no one read. Because “Notes from the Thatched Cottage” was not a classic, ritual, or policy essay for the imperial exams, but rather a collection of bizarre tales of gods and monsters.

　　Scholars do not speak of the strange, the powerful, the chaotic, or the supernatural. People preparing for the exams do not read such books.

　　But William Grant read it precisely to prepare for the exams.

　　Because this book was a notebook by the former prime minister Richard Thompson, recording stories of demons and monsters, Daoist immortals, talented scholars and beautiful women, female immortals and fox spirits.

　　“Although this ‘Notes from the Thatched Cottage’ is full of stories about gods, monsters, foxes, talented scholars, beautiful women, female immortals, and fox spirits, in fact, each story is a fable. As expected of a former prime minister and founder of the The Thompson School.”

　　“Now, although Richard Thompson has already passed away, most of the officials in the court who came up through the exams are his disciples. The chief examiner for this round is definitely also from his The Thompson School. If I carefully study the allegorical ideas that Richard Thompson expresses through foxes and ghosts, and cater to the tastes of his followers, I will surely achieve a high rank.”

　　“Those students from the orthodox academies, even if they are excellent, only know how to study by rote, but don’t understand that worldly experience is the essence of writing. Even if your essay is brilliant, if it doesn’t match the examiner’s school of thought, you’ll definitely be eliminated.”

　　Before the exam, it is extremely important to study the examiner’s school, ideas, and preferences when writing your essay. Although William Grant was young, he was very clear-headed.

　　“What a wonderful explanation of ‘Heaven’s will is the people’s will.’ I never knew there was such an interpretation.”

　　William Grant suddenly came across a story, read it carefully, and was surprised.

　　The story went like this:

　　A daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law were sleeping at night when the wall suddenly collapsed. The daughter-in-law, sleeping on the inside, held up the fallen wall with all her strength so her mother-in-law could escape, and was herself crushed to death. After her death, the mother-in-law was deeply grieved. The villagers all comforted her, saying they had dreamed that the daughter-in-law had been appointed as the City God by Heaven.

　　At that time, Richard Thompson and a group of scholars were discussing the matter. Most of the scholars thought the daughter-in-law’s filial piety was commendable, but the talk of her being made a deity was just the words of ignorant villagers.

　　But Richard Thompson strongly disagreed, saying that the daughter-in-law had indeed become a deity, because the classics say, “Heaven sees as the people see, Heaven hears as the people hear.” If the people believe the daughter-in-law became a deity, then that is Heaven’s will, and so she became a deity.

　　The scholars all laughed at Richard Thompson for being too pedantic, but Richard Thompson then expounded a profound truth: “In fact, gods are nothing more than the product of people’s thoughts. The reason the gods and Buddhas in temples can repeatedly manifest miracles is because they receive people’s incense, offerings, and faith. Originally, there were no gods in this world; when enough people believe, their thoughts gather, and gods and Buddhas are born. To destroy gods and Buddhas is also very simple: just tear down their temples, make people stop believing in them and stop offering incense, and in time, they will naturally disappear.”

　　One of the scholars nodded and asked, “If we destroy the temples of the gods and Buddhas and make people stop believing in them, what if the gods and Buddhas take revenge?”

　　Richard Thompson replied, “The classics say, ‘Uprightness and wisdom make one a god.’ As long as a scholar is upright and strict in his heart, his thoughts will naturally be as powerful as a god’s. How could gods and Buddhas possibly take revenge on you?”

　　“Scholars who are upright and strict, with strong and pure thoughts, are already close to the Daoist ‘yang spirit’ immortals. They are much stronger than those ‘yin spirits’ who cannot take form and can only appear in dreams or take revenge.”

　　The scholars, hearing Richard Thompson speak so eloquently, all felt admiration and asked him about the Daoist cultivation of ‘yang spirit’ immortals.

　　Richard Thompson said, “Yin spirits can leave their shells and wander, invisible and formless, a mass of soul and spirit, able only to rely on external things to show their supernatural powers. But yang spirits are no different from living people, able to manifest various forms, fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, and live forever.”

　　Just as the scholars were about to ask further, Richard Thompson solemnly said, “Scholars should only discuss the livelihood of the people, state affairs, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and law. Matters of gods and ghosts should be set aside; today we have already gone too far.”

　　“So gods and Buddhas originally do not exist, but are created by people’s thoughts and beliefs? The book’s saying, ‘Heaven sees as the people see, Heaven hears as the people hear, Heaven’s will is the people’s will,’ can be explained this way? Uprightness and wisdom make one a god? Yin spirits and yang spirits?”

　　William Grant felt his eyes opened to something new; this story seemed to open a mysterious door for him.

　　Bang bang bang!