He replied: "There has never been such an Enke before."
Then he changed the subject and said, "But in the autumn examination at the end of the year, the number one scholar was named Zhuo, so it is very likely that she will be the winner."
He did not take part in the next imperial examination in his previous life, but after he became an official, he looked through the examination papers of the past decade or so, so he had some impression of the surnames of the top scorers of each session.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment and asked, "Isn't she an official in Kyoto?"
Xiao Hanzheng shook his head, "No, he was probably transferred out."
He thought about it carefully again, and suddenly thought of something, "Oh, by the way, the prefect of North City later had the surname Zhuo, I don't know if it was her."
Although he had served in the army and fought in the Northern Frontier, he soon went directly to the capital, so he had never met the governor of Northern City in person.
But I have heard of Prefect Zhuo. This prefect has a very good reputation in the northern border.
Shi Qingluo touched his chin and asked, "When she was the prefect, was Prince Jin still around?"
Xiao Hanzheng shook his head. "Prince Jin had already been executed at that time, and Prefect Zhuo was promoted later."
Shi Qingluo said: "I always feel that her identity should not be that simple."
"By the way, could she be a spy from the Ge Kingdom or something?"
"Or maybe it was left over from the previous dynasty?"
When I read novels or watched TV dramas in the past, didn’t women who dressed as men in ancient times usually have a bloody life story?
Not to mention, this is very likely true for the royal family of the previous dynasty.
When a woman dresses as a man, the purpose is to hide her identity.
Then, when he took part in the imperial examination, he had his own plans.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to just be an ordinary person quietly? Why bother to take the imperial examination at the risk of great disapproval?
After hearing what his young wife said, Xiao Hanzheng couldn't help but have doubts.
He nodded. "It's not impossible. Just because I found out there's no problem doesn't mean there's really no problem."
Sometimes the things he found might have been arranged by others long ago. After all, he had limited manpower in the Northern Frontier.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment and suggested, "Old Xiao, I think you should go tell the emperor about this."
"You have limited manpower, so you might as well let the emperor investigate."
"Daliang is already facing internal and external troubles. If a spy comes or someone from the previous dynasty causes chaos, it will be even more troublesome."
The people were displaced by the tyranny of the previous dynasty, which was why it was overthrown.
The current king of Daliang works hard to govern the country, and he not only has the country but also the people in his heart.
Therefore, Shi Qingluo still hoped to live a stable life in Daliang, but did not want anyone from the previous dynasty to overthrow the Daliang royal family.
Or maybe after the civil war there will be another civil war, and the common people will suffer.
Xiao Hanzheng had never thought of telling the emperor about this matter directly and letting the emperor's people investigate it.
Instead, he was thinking about how to send people directly to intensify the investigation to see if he could find anything wrong.
I'm afraid it will be very slow if we continue to check like this.
But after hearing what his young wife said, he suddenly understood.
"Yes, this matter should indeed be investigated by the Emperor."
The emperor has a lot of spies in the northern border, after all, they have to keep an eye on Prince Jin, who may rebel at any time.
So let the emperor send someone to investigate, and the results will probably be out soon.
Shi Qingluo asked: "When are you going to tell the emperor? Do you need Xi Rong to help pass on a message?"
Xiao Hanzheng thought for a moment and said, "No, let's not go yet. Let's go after the palace examination."
"Otherwise, people who don't know would think that I wanted to pull her down because I was afraid of Zhuo Jun's strength."
"Even if we tell the emperor, it will take time for him to send someone to investigate. Zhuo Jun's success in the imperial examination cannot be changed."
He knew the emperor's temperament very well, and he would definitely not act rashly without first investigating Zhuo Jun's identity.
Shi Qingluo thought about it and said, "Well, then you can find a chance to talk to the emperor after the banquet."
Two days later, the banquet to announce the succession of the imperial examinations was held in the palace.
The emperor had already read the top ten test papers selected by the examiners and had an idea of the ranking of the top candidates.
Soon, all the candidates taking part in the palace examination were brought to the main hall.
Everyone immediately saluted, "Your Highness, long live the Emperor!"
The emperor raised his hand and said, "Stand up!"
In addition to the emperor, the ministers were also present.
Even Xiao Yuanshi, who had been staying at home to reflect, was called into the palace.
He was sitting not far away and at a glance he saw his eldest son among hundreds of candidates.
There was no way. Xiao Hanzheng was too outstanding in both appearance and temperament. Even if he was thrown into a crowd, people would be attracted to him at first sight.
The emperor first said a few words of encouragement, and then asked the eunuch to read the imperial edict.
The names of the top three students in the first class are written on it, and the ranking of the second class is determined based on the ranking of the scores previously marked by the examiners.
The chief eunuch took the imperial edict and began to read it, and the candidates present were all very nervous.
Xiao Hanzheng was not nervous. He was still confident of getting into the top three.
If nothing unexpected happens, he might be the top pick.
Sure enough, after the eunuch read out the imperial edict, Xiao Hanzheng was the top scorer in the first class.
The second runner-up was a man in his forties from an aristocratic family.
The third place winner is Zhuo Jun.
When Xi Xinheng and others heard that Xiao Hanzheng was the top scorer in the imperial examination, they couldn't help but smile.
This Xiao Hanzheng was indeed amazing. Not only did he win the top spot in the imperial examination, he was also the first person to win the top three places since the founding of Daliang.
Next, the first place winner of the second class was announced, and then the ranks and names of the following successful candidates were sung.
Qi Yiyang performed quite well this time, moving up a few places compared to the imperial examination and ranking 13th overall.
This made Mr. Qi and Mr. Qi II both have happy smiles on their faces.
Xiao Yuanshi's smile was very stiff, especially when he found that many people were looking at him with sympathy, ridicule, sarcasm, and gloating, he could no longer sit still.
The emperor must have done this on purpose, calling him to come and witness with his own eyes his son who had abandoned him and had severed his kinship with him becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination.
At this moment, he felt very uncomfortable and his regretful mood increased a lot.
If the relationship had not been severed, the top scholar would have been his, Xiao Yuanshi's son.
Unfortunately, regretting was useless, so he wanted to leave quickly and go home. He couldn't stand it.
Next, the emperor had a private conversation with the top three in the first class.
The court officials present could all see that the emperor obviously liked and valued Xiao Hanzheng, and asked Xiao Hanzheng many questions about people's livelihood.
The second place winner was extremely jealous, but he didn't dare to show it.
Zhuo Jun did not show any jealousy or envy, but instead seemed happy for his friend.
Next, the three people from Class I were paraded through the streets.
Xiao Hanzheng was riding on a big horse, his face was as white as jade and he was so handsome that many girls who were watching him blushed.
"This year's top scholar is so handsome!"
"This top scholar is so good-looking."
"It's a pity that I heard that the number one scholar has already married, otherwise even the princess would have been able to marry him."
"He's already married? That's such a pity."
"I married her. She is the lady who offered the seed to me before."
"So it's Madam Shi. She's a perfect match for the number one scholar."
(End of this chapter)
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