Chapter 200

The questions for the three sessions of the provincial exam were not too difficult, and the young men spent a couple of hours quietly writing their papers.

While they were writing, Lao Buyu looked at the questions, thought for a while, and quietly said to Shen Cui, “Overall, this year’s provincial exam questions are not too difficult. Except for the last question, which is a bit challenging. Among our students, A Fei has wasted quite a bit of time, but even so, he shouldn’t make any mistakes in answering the questions. So, this time, it’s all about the real skills they’ve learned.”

Shen Cui didn’t have much say in this matter, so she just listened without expressing any opinion.

Later, when the young men handed in their papers, Lao Buyu first went to look at Mu Er Pang’s paper, who had sat in an upgraded version of the bad seat.

After he finished reading, Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi also came over to help look at the papers.

After looking through the papers, Shen Cui saw that they all breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that her son’s abilities were not affected by the rules’ underhanded tactics.

Mu Er Pang smiled and winked at her, indicating that everything he had told her earlier was true!

What bad seat? Compared to the stinky tofu she used to make back then, it was nothing!

Those old stories weren’t particularly glorious, so only the two of them, along with Lao Buyu, knew about them.

Lao Buyu understood but didn’t mention it, and went on to look at the other papers.

Without a doubt, Mei Ruochu was still the most outstanding.

Shen Aoshuang’s performance this time was also exceptional, especially in the historical essays, where he did particularly well, not inferior to Mei Ruochu.

Shen’s grandfather was a genius in ancient and modern studies.

Although he was busy with official duties and had no time to focus on Shen Aoshuang’s studies like a regular teacher, he occasionally had the time to test his knowledge or tell him stories about history and essays.

The little things he occasionally revealed were invaluable treasures to ordinary students.

This was the origin of the Shen family’s scholarly tradition, something others could only envy.

Of course, on Shen Aoshuang’s side, no one would envy his talent in this regard.

Instead, Mu Er Pang felt sorry for him, saying, “Historical essays are only tested in the provincial and palace exams. If they were tested earlier, you wouldn’t have been overshadowed by me.”

Shen Aoshuang raised an eyebrow and smiled, “I don’t even care myself. Why are you feeling sorry for me?”

While they whispered to each other, Lao Buyu had already seen Wei Xi’s paper.

Wei Xi didn’t perform unusually, but due to health reasons—especially during the first session of the exam when the wind and rain were strong—his medicine bottle rolled away and was lost.

Although it was later picked up by a soldier, amidst the scattered items, the soldier only collected them all together as if picking up garbage and didn’t bother to distinguish whose things they were and return them one by one.

In that exam, his health deteriorated early on, and he persisted only with willpower.

As for Cui Fei, what he sought was different from the others.

When it was time to evaluate his paper, he directly asked, “Sir, is there still hope for me to be in the list atleast?”

The rankings in the provincial exam were not the final rankings in the imperial examination system.

The final ranking was determined by the emperor after the palace exam.

However, there were hundreds of people in the Group 3 passers, so it was impossible to re-adjust the rankings for everyone.

Only the top few were considered.

In other words, if you didn’t make it to the top few, your ranking in the provincial exam would almost determine your final result.

And what Cui Fei had always longed for, the Group 3 passers.

Group 3 passers is different from being an imperial scholar.

There was a certain gap between the two.

Those in the Group 1 ( Top List ) could directly enter the Hanlin Academy.

While those in the second group needed to pass an assessment.

However, those in the third group usually couldn’t enter the Hanlin Academy and would become minor officials like county magistrates.

Cui Fei came from a merchant family and was not someone who looked down on everything and only liked the simple life. He was very practical.

For him, becoming a minor official like his parents would be very good.

Under his anxious gaze, Lao Buyu thought for a while and said, “You did well this time, even better than the Provincial exam.”

During the Provincial exam, it was still warm, but this time it was cold.

Someone as robust as Cui Fei would be more resistant to the cold.

The Imperial exam was always harder than the Provincial exam, so just performing better than before wasn’t a sure thing.

So whether he would pass or not was still uncertain.

Shen Aoshuang then said, “I woke up earliest today and happened to go home for a bit. I asked my family to inquire about it. They said that among the candidates this year, there are many complaints. They said that the exam questions this time were not difficult, but the exam environment was challenging. Especially the incident near the exam hall’s toilet. It is said that at least half of the places were affected, so…”

Mei Ruochu, a truly strong person who remained unfazed even when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, had to hand in his paper early during the Provincial exam.

After wearing the mask provided by the system, he was forced to hand in his paper early and felt even worse when he returned.

Most people didn’t have such strong endurance, and without any preparation for the smell, the outcome could be imagined.

So, just like during the Provincial exam, Cui Fei’s ability to persist through all three sessions without any mistakes had already surpassed many of his competitors.

Information in the capital was very secretive, especially among the candidates who were very cautious.

Ordinary people couldn’t easily inquire about relevant information.

Naturally, it was the Shen family who could intervene to grasp this kind of trend.

“I hope to sit in the red chair again. If I can’t, it’s okay. I’ll come back to take the exam next time. By then, you will all be officials. Don’t ignore me then.” After learning the results, Cui Fei sighed in relief and didn’t ask further.

He was afraid that they would worry about him, so he deliberately made a joke.

As they joked around, Lao Buyu glanced at Shen Cui and the two of them went outside to talk quietly.

In theory, Lao Buyu should be happy that his students had performed well, but the smile on his face faded.

Facing Shen Cui, he didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, “Regardless of A Fei for now, Mei Ruochu and the others are sure to pass. But since all four of them are from the same place, they may be deliberately separated when it comes to ranking. After all, from what I observed, Pang Cifu is meticulous and strives not to make mistakes. This is also his first time presiding over the Imperial exam, so he may lack the confidence to withstand criticism like Minister Wang. Alas, if it were according to the Emperor’s original intention, it would have been better to have Elder Shen preside over the exam.”

Shen Cui nodded understandingly and said, “In any case, we’ve done our best. We won’t insist on specific rankings.”

The system’s clearance criteria were only for Mu Er Pang to enter the exam’s top scholar stage and have his name on the list, not necessarily to be the ‘top scholar (No.1)’.

Lao Buyu was also open-minded. After discussing his worries with Shen Cui, he let go of his concerns.

…

In contrast to the calm and peaceful atmosphere with Shen Cui, there was a tense and oppressive atmosphere inside the Gongyuan—the officials responsible for grading the papers were all silent and nervous.

The outer curtain officials had already copied thousands of exam papers and were ready to start grading.

But this year’s provincial exam seemed cursed.

First, the watchtower collapsed, then the toilet exploded.

The Emperor had already heard about it in the palace.

Although he only sent a eunuch to inquire if anyone was injured and didn’t show any signs of blame, his true thoughts were unpredictable.

Moreover, rumors were spreading among the people of the capital, saying things like “when things go awry, there must be a demon” or “this year’s provincial exam is ominous.”

The imperial exam was meant to select talents for the current era and the country, so it couldn’t be an ominous event.

It was very likely that once these rumors were revealed, someone among them would be pushed out and blamed as the ‘ominous person’ who caused the disaster.

The deputy examiners, as well as the examiners, were worried.

As the chief examiner, Pang Cifu was even more troubled.

He was originally a middle-aged man who had gained some weight.

But in the past ten days, he hadn’t slept a full night, and he looked extremely haggard.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was still wearing his official robes, just by looking at his complexion, one would think he was an old examinee who had suffered greatly.

But no matter how worried he was, it was of no avail.

Pang Cifu was able to climb to his current position at the age of forty, so naturally, he had his extraordinary qualities.

So, despite his haggard appearance, he showed no abnormalities in other aspects and proceeded to grade the papers with the deputy examiners and examiners in an orderly manner.

To his slight relief, not all of this year’s candidates were affected by these abnormal events.

At least the top few papers were outstanding and could stand out in any provincial exam.

Unfortunately, these outstanding papers were few and far between.

qOverall, the candidates of this year’s provincial exam were all somewhat affected.

This matter couldn’t be hidden from the Emperor, and he would definitely be asked about it later.

When it came time to remove the fake names and transcribe the rankings, Pang Cifu, who had finished his work, was actually lost in thought, starting to draft his apology.

Although Pang Cifu was certain that he was not personally responsible for the abnormalities, as the chief examiner, it was his duty to step forward at this time.

He couldn’t allow the people to speculate about the Emperor. As a subject, he had to stand in the forefront.

At this moment, he even suspected whether Minister Shen had planned for him to preside over this provincial exam.

However, it was highly unlikely.

After the collapse of the watchtower and the explosion of the toilet, he had sent trusted men to investigate thoroughly and confirmed that it was not an act of sabotage.

Otherwise, he would have already been thinking about catching the ‘culprit’ and wouldn’t be in such distress.

Previously, Pang Cifu speculated that the descendants of the Shen family might be among the candidates of this year’s provincial exam.

Pang Cifu was not stupid; he had also figured out some things.

He had even made contingency plans, investigating the fake household registrations of the Shen family on one hand and subtly suppressing the rankings of students with the surname Shen in this provincial exam on the other.

But now, he didn’t dare to have such thoughts.

He just hoped to get through this smoothly and not be punished too severely.

Pang Cifu was still lost in thought when the trusted aide responsible for unsealing the exam papers exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing that Pang Cifu was looking over, the aide explained, “Sir, the top papers that you pointed out earlier all come from the same place. Don’t you think…”

Considering Pang Cifu’s cautious nature, the aide thought he would definitely want to make some adjustments to avoid others speculating that he had taken bribes.

Unexpectedly, Pang Cifu looked at the revealed names, his eyes lit up, and he immediately smiled and said, “Heaven blesses our Great Yao! When has Qingzhou Prefecture produced so many outstanding scholars? It must be that the heavens know that the Emperor is eager for talents, so they specially bestow their blessings. No wonder there were so many anomalies in the exam hall; it was all because these extraordinary talents were about to emerge!”