Chapter 99: Examination 1/2

Hong Hui had been watching Li Qingzhi from the second floor of the restaurant.

When Yao Zhenfu appeared, he was excited. Li Qingzhi, the person who had caused him so much trouble, was about to have a bad time!

Magistrate Guo would definitely be implicated too!

But things quickly changed.

Li Qingzhi actually said that those manuscripts were written with his left hand? How is that possible!

Although he had always said that Li Qingzhi’s handwriting was ugly, in fact, Li Qingzhi’s handwriting was still decent, even with a distinctive personal style, which looked very grand.

For someone who hadn’t read much and hadn’t specifically practiced calligraphy, it would be natural for his handwriting to be like that.

Hong Hui knew that Li Qingzhi was very clever. If Li Qingzhi wasn’t clever, how could he have hooked up with Zhu Qian in such poverty, and even made Zhu Qian take care of him so much?

If he wasn’t clever, how could he have gained the favor of Magistrate Guo?

But studying takes time, and so does practicing calligraphy.

Relying solely on last-minute cramming, the knowledge gained would not be solid at all!

Without studying for a long time, previous knowledge would also be forgotten.

Li Qingzhi hadn’t touched a book for a whole five years before. His handwriting was already quite good.

Hong Hui thought Li Qingzhi was lying, but then right after that, Li Qingzhi said he could recite the Four Books and Five Classics.

The Four Books and Five Classics added up to so many words. Memorizing them fluently? That was impossible!

However, Li Qingzhi still recited them!

When Hong Hui and the others came out, they didn’t bring any books with them, but they were very familiar with these books… They knew that Li Qingzhi hadn’t recited them wrongly.

This was unbelievable!

What’s even more unbelievable was that Li Qingzhi suddenly mentioned a string of book titles, saying that he had memorized all those books as well.

Hong Hui didn’t want to believe it, but Li Qingzhi… he really recited them all!

Suddenly, Peng Jingliang stood up. “I want to go down and take a look.”

As soon as Peng Jingliang said this, the other few scholars invited by Hong Hui also spoke up, “I want to go down and take a look too.”

They had previously been indignant about the corruption in Chongcheng County by the county magistrate, but now they just wanted to chat with Li Qingzhi.

They all felt that they studied hard, but none of them could recite so many books.

This Li Qingzhi was really impressive.

And there was also the articles Li Qingzhi distributed earlier… They wanted to see how Li Qingzhi’s articles were written and how his handwriting was.

Peng Jingliang took the stairs three or four steps at a time. When he reached the bottom, he squeezed toward Li Qingzhi, but found that he couldn’t squeeze in at all.

In fact, if it weren’t for a few servants from the Zhu family protecting Li Qingzhi, Li Qingzhi would have been flattened by the crowd!

“Make way, make way!” Peng Jingliang said.

But no one paid any attention to him.

Peng Jingliang continued, “Can I see the articles written by Li Qingzhi?”

But still, no one paid him any attention.

Those who had obtained Li Qingzhi’s writings now wished they had hidden them away, not wanting to show them to anyone else.

Li Qingzhi’s handwriting was just too good!

Seeing this situation, Peng Jingliang became anxious, but he quickly came up with a solution, “I am Peng Jingliang from Hexing Prefecture! I am a scholar, and I want to test Li Qingzhi!”

As soon as the words “Peng Jingliang from Hexing Prefecture” came out, the attention of many scholars present turned to Peng Jingliang.

In Chongcheng County, the most famous young scholar among the younger generation was Hong Hui, who had become a scholar at a young age and was highly respected.

But in Hexing Prefecture, the most famous young scholar among the younger generation was Peng Jingliang.

He became a scholar when he was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and his essays were widely circulated in Hexing Prefecture.

Li Xiucai had collected Peng Jingliang’s essays and showed them to the students in his school who were preparing to take the county exam.

“Peng Jingliang is here?”

“Where is he?”

“He wants to test Li Qingzhi?”

At this point, Peng Jingliang continued, “Li Qingzhi, there’s a wooden platform in this restaurant where storytellers perform. Shall we go there? I want to test you!”

There were too many people outside, and it was too chaotic. Peng Jingliang felt it wasn’t good to be surrounded by so many people.

With so many people around, Li Qingzhi didn’t even see Peng Jingliang… he also didn’t want to be surrounded by so many people, so he agreed, “Alright.”

Everyone then surged into the inn together, with several servants from the Zhu family guarding Li Qingzhi and guiding him onto the wooden platform.

This restaurant was the largest in Chongcheng County. The second floor had a ring of private rooms, and there were many tables downstairs. In the middle of the inn, there was a wooden platform where people would usually sing or tell stories.

Today, all the private rooms on the second floor were booked.

Hong Hui had booked one to entertain Peng Jingliang and others, Zhu Qian had booked one to dine with Magistrate Guo, and Zhu Xunmiao had also booked one to watch the performance.

After realizing that Hong Hui was up to something, Li Qingzhi informed Zhu Xunmiao and advised him not to get involved; he would handle it himself.

At this moment, Zhu Xunmiao’s private room was filled with many people.

When Li Qingzhi left home, he brought his mother, younger brother, and younger sister, along with Xu Qi.

When Peng Jingliang arrived, he brought along Mrs. Xu, Jin Xiaoye, and servants from the Zhu family, making a group of more than ten people.

They had been peeking out the window before, but now they opened the door to the private room and looked down at the wooden platform in the inn from the second floor.

Zhu Xunmiao couldn’t help but sigh, “Li Qingzhi is really amazing. He has memorized so many books. I wish I had his talent!”

Xu Qifei also said, “Brother Li is a genius.”

As they were talking, the door of the adjacent private room opened, and Magistrate Guo and Zhu Qian came out.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei hurriedly went up to bow to Magistrate Guo.

Magistrate Guo glanced at them and said, “No need for formalities. Let’s watch together.”

With that, Magistrate Guo walked downstairs to take a look.

Magistrate Guo had long known that Li Qingzhi was knowledgeable and had good handwriting, but it was only today that he learned that Li Qingzhi had memorized so many books.

Even though he had passed the imperial examination, he couldn’t memorize so many books!

He couldn’t even memorize all of the Four Books and Five Classics. After passing the imperial examination, he had forgotten much of what he had memorized before…

What kind of memory did Li Qingzhi have?

A quarter of an hour ago, Magistrate Guo was still worried that the cheating incident would escalate and was thinking about how to resolve it. But now… he didn’t need to intervene at all, as the matter had already been resolved.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi had already stood on the wooden platform, and Peng Jingliang had also arrived.

Li Qingzhi knew that Hong Hui had invited Peng Jingliang, but he had never met him before. This was the first time he had seen him.

Peng Jingliang was only eighteen years old and still had a bit of childishness on his face. When facing Li Qingzhi, he didn’t harbor any ill intentions; instead, he was filled with curiosity.

He was a quite likeable young man. When his younger brother grew up, he would probably be like this.

After equating this person with Li Ermao in his mind, Li Qingzhi smiled and said, “I’ve memorized quite a few of Master Peng’s articles. You can also test me.”

“You’ve actually memorized my articles?” Peng Jingliang was surprised.

Li Qingzhi replied, “I have.” After saying that, he recited a passage and also gave his own opinions, combined with Li Xiucai’s original comments.