Chapter 100: Becoming Famous 1/2

Li Qingzhi didn’t expect to completely resolve Hong Hui’s issue with just a few words. After all, he lacked solid evidence.

But what surprised him was that at that moment, Magistrate Guo came down from the second floor of the inn.

Magistrate Guo always wore a friendly smile, but at this moment, his chubby face seemed to have turned cold.

The scholars present felt a bit embarrassed when they saw Magistrate Guo. After all, not long ago, many of them had questioned Magistrate Guo, and some even spoke ill of him.

They never expected Magistrate Guo to be present!

They didn’t know if Magistrate Guo had heard what they had said before…

“Hong Hui, you slandered the imperial official, and I will thoroughly investigate this matter!” Magistrate Guo said coldly to Hong Hui.

Hong Hui’s face turned ashen instantly.

At this time, Magistrate Guo continued, “The answer papers of those who participated in the county exam this time will be posted. Right and wrong will be judged by the public opinion.”

The scholars of Chongcheng County lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Although Hong Hui had some achievements and didn’t have to kneel even in court, Magistrate Guo didn’t directly arrest him, but he sent someone to investigate the matter.

In addition, because he had raised today’s matter to the level of someone slandering an imperial official, he needed to inform the authorities in the capital and ask them to send someone to investigate.

Magistrate Guo had a lot of things to attend to, so he didn’t stay long in the inn. He bid Li Qingzhi farewell and left in a hurry.

After Magistrate Guo left, the others stayed behind.

The scholars of Chongcheng County felt a bit guilty. “Magistrate Guo always acts for the people and is truly a rare good official!”

“It’s all because of Hong Hui!”

“He and Sun Juren are not good people!”

…

Hong Hui had already left dejectedly, and those scholars who had come from the capital now surrounded Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi’s performance just now was too astonishing. They wanted to know how Li Qingzhi managed to memorize so many books.

They were very young and planned to continue participating in the imperial examinations to become juren or xiucai. If they could memorize as many books as Li Qingzhi, what was stopping them from succeeding in the exams?

Li Qingzhi didn’t hide anything: “I have had a photographic memory since childhood.”

A photographic memory? He actually has a photographic memory?

Although these people had good memories themselves, Peng Jingliang was one of the best among them. He could recite poems and essays after hearing them just once. However, he would forget them after a while. If he wanted to memorize a poem completely, he had to recite it several times.

Moreover, he can remember because the poems are relatively short. If the articles were longer, he wouldn’t be able to memorize them in one go.

In short, he can’t memorize so many books like Li Qingzhi.

Peng Jingliang asked, “Brother Li, are you really so talented that you can memorize it after just one reading?”

Li Qingzhi replied, “Indeed.”

Most of these scholars from the prefectural city brought bookboys with them. Their book boys were carrying book boxes, making it convenient for them to study at any time or to write poetry and paint when they saw beautiful scenery.

At this moment, Peng Jingliang asked his book boy to bring out an article, “Brother Li, this is an article my teacher wrote not long ago. See if you can memorize it.”

Peng Jingliang’s teacher was a retired official with a proper scholarly background. His articles were very well-written, and Peng Jingliang kept them with him for the purpose of studying.

Li Qingzhi took the article, read it carefully once, and then handed it back to Peng Jingliang, saying, “I’ve memorized it.”

“Give it a try,” Peng Jingliang said. Other people also gathered around Peng Jingliang to look at the article on the paper.

Li Qingzhi smiled and began to recite, reciting it word for word.

“Brother Li, you really have an extraordinary memory!” Peng Jingliang was astonished, and others were also taken aback.

This article was nearly a thousand words long, yet Li Qingzhi could memorize it after just one reading!

They had originally been somewhat envious of Li Qingzhi, but now they couldn’t envy him at all.

The gap between the two sides was simply too big!

These scholars all felt this way, let alone others.

The students from Chongcheng County who stayed in the restaurant had long since been convinced.

Among all the people, only Yao Zhenfu refused to believe it and kept murmuring to himself, “This is impossible, this absolutely can’t be true, it’s all fake…”

Yao Zhenfu had always looked down on Li Qingzhi. He couldn’t accept that Li Qingzhi’s knowledge was really that good.

It shouldn’t be!

These people must have colluded with Li Qingzhi!

“This couldn’t possibly be fake! Li Qingzhi was writing in public!”

“Think about it; cheating in the county exam is meaningless, considering there are still the prefectural and imperial exams to come…”

“Mr. Peng and the others couldn’t possibly help Li Qingzhi cheat.”

“That’s true, it’s Peng Jingliang we’re talking about!”

…

“Li Qingzhi’s knowledge is clearly very poor! He admitted it himself before!” Yao Zhenfu exclaimed angrily.

Yao Zhenfu had been standing by the stage all this time, and Li Qingzhi naturally heard him.

Feeling a bit helpless, Li Qingzhi said to Yao Zhenfu, “Brother Yao, it’s true that my knowledge used to be average, but I’ve been studying diligently.”

Peng Jingliang added, “Yes, with Brother Li’s photographic memory, one month of your study equals to a year of study for others.”

Yao Zhenfu couldn’t bear to hear this anymore. “Why! How come all the advantages go to Li Qingzhi?”

As he was shouting, Mr. Yao came in from outside and pulled him away.

Today was the day when the county exam results were posted, so Mr. Yao and Jin Moli both came to the county seat.

Because the county office was crowded earlier, Jin Moli didn’t go there. Only Mr. Yao and Yao Zhenfu squeezed in to see the posted list.

Yao Zhenfu hadn’t been diligent in his studies for the past few months, so naturally, his name wasn’t on the list. Then he started to complain about unfairness, feeling that Li Qingzhi’s top ranking was illegitimate.

It just so happened that those arranged by Hong Hui also said the same…

Although Mr. Yao was dissatisfied with Yao Zhenfu, after all, Yao Zhenfu was his own son. After hearing Yao Zhenfu say it repeatedly, he started to believe it.

He actually thought Li Qingzhi’s top ranking wasn’t normal. After all, five years ago, everyone in the village knew that Li Qingzhi wasn’t good at studies.

Even Li Qingzhi himself admitted to this.

Since Li Qingzhi wasn’t good at studies… how could he suddenly become the top scorer in the county? Most likely, Magistrate Guo was showing favoritism.

Mr. Yao also felt it was unfair. He didn’t stop Yao Zhenfu when he confronted Li Qingzhi.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingzhi was truly talented. Mr. Yao felt guilty, and then he saw Yao Zhenfu following other students into the restaurant.

The restaurant was packed with scholars, and Mr. Yao didn’t dare to enter. He just waited at the door.

He came in now because Jin Moli asked him to.

Jin Moli didn’t go to the county office, but she was very interested in the relevant news.

When she learned that Li Qingzhi was the top scorer, she was extremely angry.

When she heard that Li Qingzhi’s top ranking might not be legitimate, she was pleasantly surprised.

But her joy didn’t last long. More news came out saying that the students from Chongcheng County and the scholars from the prefectural city publicly tested Li Qingzhi, and Li Qingzhi answered all their questions!

Until now, people were saying how good Li Qingzhi’s knowledge was, as if he were a god of literature.

Jin Moli, full of resentment, came to find Yao Zhenfu, only to be told that Yao Zhenfu was still inside questioning Li Qingzhi… she felt extremely embarrassed and asked Mr. Yao to bring Yao Zhenfu out.

She wanted to go home.

When Mr. Yao left the restaurant, he couldn’t help but feel guilty and embarrassed as he glanced at Li Qingzhi.