Old Man Qiao thought for a moment, but he didn't know what to say.
"Lian'er, come here and tell me, is this considered cheating?"
Qiao Lian'er was observing the rice ears and listening to the conversation between Old Man Qiao and Mu Xinghe.
"It's not exactly cheating, but more like taking a shortcut," she said. "Even if you know the scope of the questions and the range of questions you can choose from, that's just the scope and the questions. You still need to rely on what you've learned over the years to analyze and answer them. If you're not very bright, even if you know the answers, you won't be able to answer them very well."
She had learned about the imperial examinations here. Three-tenths of the content was rote memorization, and seven-tenths was subjective interpretation. The rote memorization content was something that everyone who went to take the exam could actually memorize. The most crucial part was the seven-tenths.
Few people would sell that 30%, and even if they did, it wouldn't have much impact on others.
The key is that if you know the scope of subjective analysis questions, you can start making more precise preparations.
Mu Xinghe didn't say anything; he still felt that this wasn't a good idea.
“Brother Xinghe, this world is not black and white; there are many gray areas. If you talk to others about fairness, they won’t listen to you. Besides, this is entirely a battle fought with your own strength.”
Qiao Lian'er said, "If others do it and you don't, you'll certainly beat those poor students, but those who are slightly worse than you will get the exam questions, find good students, or even hire tutors to explain and help them with the questions. When the exam comes, won't they surpass you?"
As he said this, Mu Xinghe's face became wary, and he looked even more uneasy.
Little did he know that the imperial examinations were not solely a contest of ability, but also involved so many underhanded tactics.
He felt a crack appear in his heart, which held onto justice.
Seeing his expression, Qiao Lian'er felt it was a bit difficult to explain.
It wasn't that she wanted to meddle, but her grandfather had already brought it up to this point.
Because his family was poor, they didn't have enough money to send their grandchildren to school, and they all missed the age to start their education, which became a regret in Old Man Qiao's heart.
So seeing that Mu Xinghe was honest and earnest, and considering that Mu Xinghe's father died when he was young and his mother had just passed away a few days ago.
Old Man Qiao couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
"Think it over carefully. This is your own future. That's just how the world is. You can't give us fairness if you come to us for it."
"It's not really stealing or anything, it's just a technique. You still have to rely on yourself in the exam. What, are we Qiao family members forcing you to be a villain? Just pretend you didn't hear these words."
Qiao Lian'er wanted to laugh. There is no absolute justice in this world. This world operates according to certain rules. Only those who conform to the rules can live well. Those who resist the rules live a miserable life, stumbling and bumping along, and may even die without knowing how they died.
Seeing that Qiao Lian'er's attitude had hardened, Mu Xinghe quickly said, "I, oh, Sister Lian'er, that's not what I meant. You're all doing this for my own good. I'm the one who's heartless and blames you. I just suddenly found out about this, and I'm a little—"
Qiao Lian'er softened her tone: "In this world, to be a smart person, there are many meanings to being smart. It's not just about being smart in your mind, but also about being smart in dealing with people. For example, when you don't have enough strength or much say, how do you deal with things that are a bit unseemly? How do you protect your own interests and make yourself live better without offending or harming others?"
Mu Xinghe fell into thought.
"If you pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future, the same principle applies. When you see injustices in officialdom, you must learn to navigate the situation and ensure your own safety, rather than recklessly criticizing others in order to uphold justice and offending people everywhere. Only in this way can you go far in life."
Mu Xinghe couldn't help but look into those eyes, which were dark, bright, and intelligent, as if they had seen through everything in the world. His little daughter, who was only twelve years old, seemed to have the soul of an adult inside her.
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