Chapter 367 [Dare to Swear]

After the ceremonial officer announced the rankings of the Jinshi candidates, the results of three candidates remained unannounced.

These three people are already the top three, and the ranking of the top three will be announced by Emperor Qingning himself.

And now, those who have not had their rankings announced are Xue Wei from the Xue family in Beijing, Sun Shihong from the Sun family in Yuzhou, and Lin Zhe from the Lin family in Ancheng.

Everyone looked at the three people with envy and expectation, mainly at Xue Wei. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely be the top scorer in this year's competition.

As expected, Emperor Qingning glanced at the three of them and announced loudly, "The first place in this palace examination is from the Xue family in the capital, Xue Wei!"

No suspense!

Everyone in the class group who was watching the student council's live broadcast sent congratulatory messages.

@Jiang Lili: After all the hard work, the student council's retreat was not in vain!

@Hou Xiaoxiao@(Princess of Jin): From now on, I'll rely on Lord Xue for protection in the court! 】

…

Among the series of celebratory messages, one was particularly eye-catching.

@Master Liao: I read Xue Wei's fortune and I'm afraid there will be some setbacks during today's imperial examination ceremony!

@薛蔚: No, buddy, why are you saying that now?

@Master Liao: Sorry, I can't get used to the new milk powder, and my fortune-telling skills have regressed. I'm only now figuring it out...

Xue Wei: ... Saying this at this time will only mess with people's mentality.

At this time, the candidates for the second and third place have been announced, which are Lin Zhe from the Ancheng Lin family and the Sun family from Yuzhou. The Lin family is a scholarly family, and the Sun family is a new elite from Yuzhou.

Upon hearing the result, Grand Tutor Xue, who was sitting in the front row among the civil and military officials, showed a relieved smile on his face. He tried his best to control his excitement, while the officials around him had already congratulated Grand Tutor Xue.

"As expected of the Grand Tutor's son, his astonishing talent is just as good as mine!"

"The Taifu family has produced a top scholar. This result is not surprising to me at all. Congratulations!"

…

Grand Tutor Xue smiled and replied to the officials who congratulated him, "No, no, it's just luck. I didn't teach Wei'er much, he just studied on his own."

——"Hey, Lao Xue, stop being so modest!"

Master Xue smiled embarrassedly. What he said was indeed the truth. Thinking of this, he felt even more guilty and indebted to Xue Wei.

However, just as Grand Tutor Xue was beaming with joy, someone from among the civil and military officials suddenly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the title of top scholar cannot be taken lightly! If someone's virtue is unworthy of the position, it will surely discourage thousands of students!"

This was equivalent to saying that Xue Wei was not worthy of being the number one scholar. Everyone's eyes turned to the official who spoke. It was Wang Yi, the Imperial Censor who had the power to impeach all officials.

Saying that the number one scholar appointed by the emperor is not worthy of being the number one scholar, isn't this equivalent to slapping the emperor in the face?

Only Wang Yi, the Imperial Censor who possessed the Imperial Sword, dared to say this. He was the Imperial Censor appointed by the previous emperor and a veteran of two dynasties. Emperor Qingning had to give him face.

Emperor Qingning laughed in anger: "Master Wang, please tell me how Xue Wei is unworthy?!"

Wang Yi's temples were already tinged with white, and his eyes were gleaming with energy. "Xue Wei is the son of Grand Tutor Xue Yun, a senior official in the imperial court. Your Majesty has been worried about the affairs of the northwest these days and has summoned all the ministers to discuss and plan. Grand Tutor Xue has been present every time!"

"Given how familiar Taifu Xue is with Your Majesty, he might have guessed the scope of the questions Your Majesty would ask of the political leaders in the palace examination and asked his son to carefully prepare the corresponding answers!"

After Wang Yi finished speaking, Emperor Qingning bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, please be clear-minded and uphold justice for the countless students across the world!"

After Wang Yi finished speaking, all the newly minted scholars, except Xue Wei, followed him and knelt before Emperor Qingning, paying their respects and shouting in unison, "Your Majesty, please see clearly and uphold justice for all the students!"

Grand Tutor Xue could no longer laugh at this moment. If he could come up with Xue Wei's solution to the Northwest crisis, would he still have to be scolded by Emperor Qingning along with other civil servants?

But once Wang Yi threw dirty water on them, it was easy for people to imagine all kinds of things, and it was difficult for them to prove themselves!

This game is so vicious!

Imperial Tutor Xue was no pushover either, so he naturally chose not to prove himself and instead threw the dirty water back: "Lord Wang, it's no secret that His Majesty has been troubled by the Northwest issue for a long time. These students present are all the proud disciples of various factions. How could they not know? How could they not be prepared in advance?!"

"To be honest, they've been preparing for so long, but they haven't come up with an idea as brilliant as my son's. Doesn't that prove they're inferior?"

Doctor Xue spoke in a steady, neither humble nor arrogant voice: "If your opinions are inferior to others, you should face reality instead of making unreasonable trouble here."

He glared at Lord Wang, "Why are you throwing this dirty water on me? What are your intentions?"

Wang Yi snorted coldly, not directly answering his question. "Perhaps you've been thinking day and night about a strategy for dealing with the northwest and told your son Xue Wei about it, but you've kept it secret from His Majesty. If His Majesty asks about the northwest during the palace examination, your son will be able to make a splash."

"If not, then you can still present the idea of ​​attracting merchants to His Majesty at the court meeting in the future. No matter how you look at it, your Xue family will benefit!"

When Emperor Qingning heard Wang Yi's words, suspicion suddenly arose in his heart. How could Xue Wei, who was so young, come up with such a cunning idea of ​​using merchants to revitalize the northwest?

However, Xue Wei's writing and policy proposals were both eye-catching, and very different from his father's style of doing things... Moreover, he had kept Xue Wei to discuss matters a few days ago, and Xue Wei answered all kinds of trivial matters and his impromptu questions fluently. If he had prepared in advance, his preparations would have been too comprehensive.

"Xue Wei, do you have anything to say?"

Emperor Qingning decided to wait and see Xue Wei's reaction first. After all, he was sure of this man's talent.

He wanted to see if Xue Wei could resolve this farce with his own strength. After all, in future court disputes, this kind of taunting would be commonplace.

If Xue Wei could break the impasse today and shut up these people, his future would be limitless. He might really be the Wenquxing that the Imperial Astronomical Observatory mentioned! This would be a blessing for his great success.

Xue Wei bowed slightly, speaking calmly and steadily: "Xue Wei has already participated in the imperial examination according to the rules for the sons of court officials to avoid examinations. The examiners of the three examinations have no connection with the Xue family."

"Xue Wei's answer is what he thinks, and it's honest and upright. If he tells a lie, I will punish you with lightning."

Wang Yi sneered: "What's the point of you swearing? You need to prove your innocence!"

"Swear, everyone can do it!"

Facing the aggressiveness of the elders of the two dynasties, Xue Wei remained respectful and calm: "I will not prove anything I have not done."

"Since it is Lord Wang who is questioning this, then please provide solid evidence to prove that Xue Wei's answer was what my father thought of. Otherwise, everyone will throw dirty water on me and step on me."

"Lord Wang, do you dare to swear that your public provocation today was not directed by someone behind the scenes?"

@薛蔚: Li Li, please send me the recording of your thunder. I'm going to scare the crap out of this old man @江麗麗.