Chapter 8 General Guo

What is the relationship between the Crown Prince and Qingyang?

The Crown Prince has never been to Qingyang, has he?

Yan Shengchu's mind was a complete mess. The line "This person who looks exactly like the Crown Prince is the top scholar of Qingyang" kept swirling in his head, making him almost dizzy.

What exactly happened?

"What did you say your name was?"

Tan Jingshan and the others didn't recognize Yan Shengchu. Seeing that this man didn't look very friendly, they immediately defended him, saying, "His name is Ye Jianshan. What do you want? Let me tell you, the Imperial Guards are here today too."

Let's see who dares to touch their Qingyang Jieyuan.

Yan Shengchu was pushed to the back, several people away from Ye Jianshan, and was completely dumbfounded when he heard the name Ye Jianshan.

"How could his surname be Ye? How could he be the top scholar from Qingyang?"

Shouldn't his surname be Chen?

The royal family of the Great Jin Dynasty all have the surname Chen, and there are very few princes with other surnames. Moreover, he looks so much like the Crown Prince that he could not possibly be the child of a prince with another surname. Besides, even if he were, there are no princes with the surname Ye.

Ye Jianshan felt safe and secure being protected by his fellow villagers, and looked at Yan Shengchu with a smug expression. He hadn't expected that Yan Shengchu would have even more people on his side, so he wasn't afraid at all.

What are you all arguing about?

As soon as they heard about the Royal Guards, people started arriving from afar. Their commotion not only attracted the attention of those around them but also drew the Royal Guards over.

The group of people immediately quieted down, stopped watching the excitement, and obediently lined up.

These imperial guards were tall and strong, wearing armor and with swords at their waists; they looked incredibly imposing.

The imperial guards stopped in front of Yan Shengchu and said to him, "Behave yourself, you'll be able to go in soon."

Yan Shengchu had no interest in dealing with the Imperial Guards; his mind was filled with the name Ye Jianshan.

To be honest, he had heard of this name. He was a competitor of the Cui family's son. Both of them had already won first place four times. If they won it two more times, they would achieve the highest rank in the imperial examinations, making a name for themselves in history and bringing great honor to their families.

But he never expected that the person who looked like the Crown Prince was Ye Jianshan.

Everyone says that the top scholar from Qingyang is mysterious and rarely comes out. Who knew that his identity was so extraordinary? The Cui family is very powerful and determined to win the title of the top scholar. But if the chief minister Cui really saw Ye Jianshan's old bones, he would probably have to kneel down to him.

After all, Chief Minister Cui is old and his eyesight is failing. If they could mistake Ye Jianshan for His Highness the Crown Prince, then it's no surprise that he, too, couldn't escape the same fate.

Yan Shengchu felt a surge of joy whenever he thought of Cui Jianbing. He supported Ye Jianshan in achieving the title of "Six Top Scholars" in the imperial examinations. He had disliked Cui Jianbing since childhood; he was incredibly arrogant. So what if he had a Grand Secretary as his grandfather?

What arrogance?

Ye Jianshan was the obstacle that prevented the Cui family from achieving their goals.

Once Yan Shengchu had calmed himself down, he was no longer in such a bad mood and was able to focus on the Imperial Guards.

But when he looked up and saw the person who had come, he immediately perked up and respectfully replied, "Yes, General Guo."

With the Crown Prince present today, it's impossible to leave out General Guo Yu.

It seems that General Guo is leading the Imperial Guards this time, in order to maintain order, but more importantly, to protect the Crown Prince's safety.

Some of the people queuing around Ye Jianshan had also heard of the name of the Qingyang Jieyuan and looked at him curiously. But when they heard the name of General Guo, they immediately stood up straight and the whole queue became much more orderly, as they were afraid that General Guo would talk to them.

General Guo was renowned far and wide; those who knew his background were not afraid of him.

Seeing that the Imperial Guards had been attracted, Ye Jianshan obediently lowered his head and lined up, no longer provoking Yan Shengchu, but he was very satisfied with Yan Shengchu's reaction.

You never thought you'd be the top scholar at such a young age, did you? Aren't you envious of him?

Hehe, Ye Jianshan is happy.

But he never expected that one of his friends, Feng Xing, would become a successful candidate in the provincial examination and participate in the metropolitan examination, which was quite surprising.

He thought they were all spoiled brats, but it turns out they were quite capable.

Listening to the conversation between the Imperial Guard and Yan Shengchu, a flash of inspiration struck Ye Jianshan.

The imperial guard with the sword is surnamed Guo. Wait, could this be the owner of the Guo family that he has been looking for?

Judging from his tall and imposing stature, and the fact that he's a general, it's unlikely to be such a coincidence.

His mother spoke softly and acted with grace and propriety; it was impossible for her to know a military general like him. It was probably just a coincidence.

But having found one surnamed Guo, he believes he will soon encounter a whole host of people with the same surname. Although he has stopped his third uncle from deliberately seeking out the Guo family, he should still keep this information in mind.

"Are you here to take the imperial examination too?"

Guo Yu approached Ye Jianshan and unfolded the portrait painting in his hand, which depicted the portraits of various examinees. He then compared the portraits with the people in the painting.

"May I have your name?"

Ye Jianshan answered honestly, and even pointed to his own portrait for him: "Ye Jianshan, the first one in Qingyang is me."

Guo Yu only looked up and met his gaze when she heard his voice, and her pupils contracted when she saw his face.

He brought the portrait over because he thought it looked like the likeness, but he didn't expect it to be so similar.

This face is exactly the same as the Crown Prince's when he was young, no, it looks exactly like the current Crown Prince, only much younger.

Yan Shengchu, standing behind, craned his neck to watch General Guo's reaction. He saw that General Guo was clearly startled as well, and immediately felt relieved. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who was so flustered when he first met Ye Jianshan; everyone who had met the Crown Prince would be like that.

It seems that this is also the first time General Guo has met Ye Jianshan.

This Ye Jianshan is truly mysterious.

Even General Guo was startled. It seems the Crown Prince was unaware of Ye Jianshan's existence, otherwise General Guo wouldn't have reacted this way.

I wonder if Ye Jianshan will still be able to concentrate on answering the questions once he goes inside and sees His Highness the Crown Prince, the chief examiner.

You really need to adjust your mindset. Yan Shengchu is still counting on him to win the top score in the provincial and imperial examinations and surpass Cui Jianbing.

But Yan Shengchu felt uneasy again; Ye Jianshan's face was indeed a problem.

I wonder if it will affect his chances in the imperial examinations.

Ye Jianshan noticed that Guo Yu was staring blankly at him. He glanced down at Guo Yu's knees and thought, "Good, he didn't kneel down and call me Crown Prince in public."

Ye Jianshan also came to terms with it. His background was clean and upright, and he had nothing to fear. If anyone had the ability, they could go to Qingyang to investigate him.

He is very popular in Qingyang.

He is the hope of the entire Qingyang. Everyone is counting on him to achieve the highest rank in the imperial examination and bring glory to Qingyang.

Ye Jianshan blinked innocently and asked Guo Yu, "What's wrong? Doesn't it look like me?"

Guo Yu got goosebumps all over. Staring at the Crown Prince's face and acting cute was too much of a rip-off, but it really touched Guo Yu's heart. It reminded him of the Crown Prince's childhood, and the resemblance was too striking.

But Guo Yu didn't agree with what he said. How could this painting resemble the real thing?

"No, it looks a bit like it. Let me check the ticket."

He's in a lot of confusion right now, so he can only try to find out where this person comes from.

The exam admission ticket was something like that. Ye Jianshan handed the ticket to Guo Yu. It contained Ye Jianshan's name, place of origin, age, physical characteristics, exam status, and guarantor information. [Note 1]

"Ye Jianshan, a native of Qinghe County, Qingyang Prefecture, is 16 years old..."

Guo Yu's hand trembled upon seeing this, and an unbelievable thought came to mind.

"Is your mother's surname Ye?"

Guo Yu swallowed hard, feeling a bit nervous.

Everyone else listened intently. The information on Ye Jianshan's ticket was almost entirely public knowledge and had been checked several times without any problems. If there were any issues, he wouldn't have become the top scholar in Qingyang.

Ye Jianshan raised an eyebrow. When he saw that Ye Jianshan had mentioned his mother, Ye Yun, he said vaguely, "I took my maternal grandfather's surname, Ye. My father married into the family; he was a son-in-law."

The name written on his father's grave is Ye Da.

"You have a father?"

Guo Yu was a little surprised.

Ye Jianshan's eyes widened as if he had heard something unbelievable: "Why can't I have a father?"

Guo Yu realized he had spoken out of turn as soon as he finished speaking, but pointed to the "deceased" mark on the ticket and said, "Isn't your father dead?"

"Even if my father dies, he is still my father."

Ye Jianshan retorted.

Guo Yu realized she had misspoke and apologized: "I misspoke..."

He wanted to ask more questions, but Ye Jianshan had already taken back his ticket: "Your Excellency has read it. My background is clean and I have been an orphan since childhood. My father's dream before he died was that I could participate in the imperial examination. I hope Your Excellency can understand. I need to prepare to enter the examination hall."

After saying that, Ye Jianshan walked forward with the flow of people. The inspection of the Imperial Examination Hall had already begun ahead.

Guo Yu was left standing there, stunned.

He had a bold guess in his mind: perhaps when he saw the Crown Princess off sixteen years ago, she was already pregnant.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why someone who looks exactly like the crown prince suddenly appeared sixteen years later.

The Crown Prince has already arrived at the examination hall, and the father and son will definitely meet. If the Crown Prince finds out, how will he explain it?

Guo Yu was preoccupied, yet at the same time felt somewhat relieved. It seemed the Crown Princess was living a good life, having even raised her son to become a top scholar.

I wonder how the Crown Prince will react.

Ye Jianshan was completely numb after the examination.

Several people knelt down on the spot as soon as they saw him. Then Ye Jianshan took out his examination paper, provincial examination admission documents, and identity documents to show them that he was just an ordinary candidate and not the crown prince.

The candidates from Qingyang who were queuing behind him, along with Yan Shengchu, were completely dumbfounded.

This is the first time I've ever seen inspectors kneel down to test takers.

The brothers from Qingyang were the most indifferent. Wasn't Ye Jianshan a pitiful little guy who was bullied by people from the capital?

Why do all the supervising officials kneel down every time they see him?

If it weren't for the Imperial Guards following them, Tan Jingshan and Luo Shaohui would have liked to go up and shake Ye Jianshan to check if he had been replaced.

It was their first time visiting the Imperial Examination Hall, and they didn't know if this procedure was right or wrong, but it was definitely not normal.

The previous candidates all went through the normal process, but when it came to Ye Jianshan, they practically had to kneel down to see him off.

The examiners were the ones who were stunned. They almost thought they were meeting the Crown Prince, the chief examiner, and they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the ticket and identification documents.

But the person who looks like the crown prince is actually a candidate, the sixteen-year-old top scholar from Qingyang.

But why did General Guo follow along the whole time?

It's no wonder they misunderstood that this person was related to the Crown Prince.

Guo Yu guessed Ye Jianshan's identity and felt uneasy if she didn't follow him.

Ye Jianshan was completely unaffected and had to thank Feng Xing and Yan Shengchu for desensitizing him; otherwise, he would have been completely bewildered when he first encountered this situation.

He went in with the seat number he had drawn and was led to sit in the middle of the first row.

This isn't a great spot, but it's much better than a bad one.

He wiped the table, sat down, arranged his things, and then slumped onto the table and fell asleep.

There's still more than half a day until the first exam, so why not sleep now?

The Crown Prince, as the chief examiner, arrived at the examination hall early in the morning, but he found that the people around him were looking at him strangely.

Previously, they were all very respectful and meek, not daring to even raise their heads, let alone now, as they all crowded around him, practically wanting to peek into his face.

He touched his face: "Is there something on my face?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

Crown Prince: ?

He touched it and found nothing there. He started to walk into the examination room and saw everyone following behind him.

Crown Prince: ?

These people must have nothing better to do, right?

They've gotten bolder; not only do they dare to look him in the eye, but now they even dare to follow him around like a shadow?

Is it strange that the Crown Prince is the chief examiner for the first time?

Is this necessary?

Since that's the case, he'll still be in office three years later.

A bunch of ignorant people, what's so interesting about this?

A note from the author:

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[Note 1] From Baidu.