The emperor glanced at the paper briefly, then turned back to look at it carefully. Upon hearing what he said, he said, "Since you have brought it with you, let's take a look at it together."
Qin Wan immediately took the paper from Lord Yu and started to look at it.
Xie Qing also picked up a scroll and opened it to read.
In the current spring examinations, in order to prevent people from identifying each other by their handwriting, all the papers will be copied out by a special person.
The papers that Lord Yu brought had all been sorted, and all of them contained copies and original copies.
The two test papers must be exactly the same except for the handwriting and must not have any other marks.
The emperor carefully reviewed Sun Quanxue's paper and relaxed his brows. "His answers are quite standard. If there were no one better, it wouldn't be surprising if he passed. However, with only two or three years of study, achieving such a low score does arouse suspicion."
Qin Wan looked up from her papers and said, "That's exactly why I'm worried someone might take advantage of this opportunity to cheat in the imperial examination. Mr. Sun is my man, and his short study time is well known and cannot be concealed. Removing him from the team is indeed the best strategy for them."
The emperor placed the paper beside him and said, "Leave it with me. Anyone who has any objections can come to me."
Lord Yu said thoughtfully, "In my humble opinion, this student surnamed Sun is just lucky. This year's imperial examination asks about agriculture and water conservancy. Sun comes from the Crown Princess's estate, and these fine seeds were all planted by the Crown Princess. He must have seen a lot."
"What's more, the Crown Princess participated in the entire dam construction process. I believe Student Sun also learned a lot from her. It just so happens that the test is on his specialty, so..."
Lord Yu was unable to continue speaking, because if he continued, the suspicion that Qin Wan had cheated in the imperial examination would become more and more serious. To be honest, if the examiners who set the questions for this imperial examination were not selected by him personally, and if they had not lived together since the selection, there would be no possibility of the questions being leaked. He might have suspected that the Crown Princess had cheated in the imperial examination.
Qin Wan shook the paper and smiled, "That's why I wanted Father to investigate it in detail. This matter is of great importance, and I am the Crown Princess. The Crown Prince and I are one and the same. They are coming after me, intending to severely injure the Crown Prince. This matter cannot be taken lightly."
The emperor looked at Qin Wan and said, "I remember you said that the grandfather of this student surnamed Sun was one of the farmers who planted the hybrid seeds this time. I remember that most of the people who contributed to the hybrid seeds were given official positions in the Ministry of Revenue. Why didn't he go?"
Qin Wan said, "Uncle Sun is too old. He feels that being an official is not suitable for him, so he only wants the reward money."
The emperor asked curiously, "Oh? How old are you?"
Qin Wanmo calculated and said, "He's already over sixty. My daughter-in-law doesn't know his exact age."
The Great Zhou Dynasty was now considered prosperous, but the average life expectancy was between forty and fifty. Sixty was considered a long life, not to mention those who could live to seventy or eighty. Even if there was no one left at home, there would be someone to support them at home, because everyone believed that long-lived people were blessed with great fortune, and supporting them throughout their lives would benefit the family.
The emperor calculated his age and sighed, "If only I could live to be sixty."
The emperor is only in his forties now, but he already feels that his health is failing. Although the imperial physician says that he can live for ten more years with good care of himself, it is not certain that he can live to sixty.
The emperor thought far ahead and said in a trance for a moment: "I will come to the palace examination in person this time, and I will also pass the examination. What our Great Zhou needs now is not literati who write articles, but people who can actually do things for the people."
Upon hearing this, Lord Yu became concerned about his health and turned to the Dean beside him, asking, "Sir, is His Majesty's health able to hold up?"
The court official stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty has been recuperating well recently. If you only preside over a palace examination, it should be fine. However, you should avoid overexerting yourself."
The light in Lord Yu's eyes dimmed, but then he perked up: "Your Majesty can now preside over the palace examination. Perhaps in a month or two, you can preside over the grand court meeting. At that time, the Crown Prince will be the regent, and Your Majesty will only need to stay at the rear. Then, we, the ministers, will be at peace."
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this for now. Let's all take a look at the papers."
Seeing that the emperor had no intention of resting, the court director hurried down to make some refreshing medicine.
The number of admitted people in each imperial examination is different. Not to mention the period of the previous emperor, even during the current emperor's time, the number of admitted people ranges from dozens to two or three hundred. They are divided into three regions, north, south and central, and admitted according to the proportion.
***In the spring examination, the number of admitted students was 150, which was not a small number of papers. Everyone present could see almost all of them after dividing them into several parts.
Qin Wan picked up a few papers directly from the box. Without looking at the contents, she looked for the differences between each paper and the copied papers.
Fortunately, apart from the different handwriting, no one had been secretly marked. She felt relieved, but then she felt puzzled. If that was the case, the cheating in the imperial examination was not included in the grading process. Could it be that it was on the final list of successful candidates?
So who finally submitted the list?
How to submit the test paper?
How is it verified?
Qin Wan's eyes couldn't help but fall on the paper in the emperor's hand.
The emperor noticed her gaze and beckoned to her: "Come, Changping, come and take a look at this student Sun's paper."
Qin Wan stood up and took the paper, glancing over. It was Sun Quanxue's handwriting, and there was only one copy, not a transcript. She looked at Lord Yu and asked, "Where is the transcript?"
Lord Yu hurriedly searched the box. "I was a little confused when I read this paper, so I put it aside. This copied paper... seems to be at the bottom of the box?"
Lord Yu took out the papers from the box one by one. When he got to the end, he was stunned.
Eunuch Zhang looked over curiously and exclaimed, "Ouch!" "Why is everything dirty?"
Isn't it true? The bottom of the box had been stained with ink at some point, and most of the papers on the lower shelf were soaked in ink.
Lord Yu hurriedly moved the paper out, and Eunuch Zhang also helped to take out the paper and unfold it. He then ordered someone to bring a clean handkerchief and wipe off the dirt on it one by one.
Qin Wan stood by and watched, saying quietly, "It's useless. If it's soaked in water, you can vaguely see some traces. If it's wet with paint or oil or something like that, you can also find a way to peek at some words or marks on the paper."
"But this is ink. Together with the ink on the paper, once it dries, it's impossible to tell which are the original traces and which are added later. Even if someone tampered with the copied paper, we wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
Lord Yu slumped to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, what should we do?"
The emperor pointed at Qin Wan and said, "Let's hear what Changping has to say."
Qin Wan turned around and saluted the emperor, then looked at the papers spread out on the ground and said, "We must pay close attention to these students during the palace examination. It might be an accident, it might be intentional, or perhaps even on the papers that aren't dirty, there are traces we're unaware of. We must be fully prepared."
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