Having struggled out of a sea of suffering, the boy encountered enough warmth and love. Even injustice, he had the courage to refute it, and integrity and uprightness were forever etched in his bones.
He never gave up when his legs were broken by beatings and he was left in the wilderness; he never gave up when he was targeted by the magistrate of a county; and he never gave up when he was retaliated against by the Wang and Sun families.
At this moment, he had no reason to give up.
Xu Mo turned around, glanced at Jiang Sheng who was shouting hoarsely, nodded reassuringly at Wen Zhiyun whose eyes were red, and finally met Chang Yan's serious gaze.
Take a deep breath, let your mind return to its calmest state, and let the surroundings become eerily silent.
Qi Huai, who was extremely anxious, Zhao Yuan, who was wailing with his mouth wide open, An Jun, who was angrily pounding on the wall, and countless angry but confused people all focused their attention on the back of the boy in the center of the Fengtian Prefecture Hall.
"My lord," Xu Mo's mind raced, "are you sure these two scrolls are both my handwriting?"
The Prefect of Fengtian snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Yes, it's exactly the same as the dictation you provided. I even thought you wrote two copies..."
That's impossible.
Xu Mo had no reason to write an exam paper for Fang Yuan, and even less energy to write two articles.
The only explanation is that the two people's handwriting is really very similar.
Because of the similarity, Xu Mo had no way of proving that the exam paper was his own.
He didn't ask the Fang family to find Fang Yuan's handwriting from over the years for comparison. Given the Fang family's meticulousness, they must have destroyed Fang Yuan's previous handwriting long ago, leaving only handwriting similar to Xu Mo's to circulate.
Once the Fang family started playing chess, there weren't many openings left for him to exploit.
Handwriting is ruled out, date is ruled out, content is ruled out, the only thing left is... the name on the exam paper.
Fang Yuan imitated Xu Mo's handwriting, wrote Xu Mo's name on his own exam paper, and secretly passed his exam paper to Xu Mo.
But Xu Mo didn't write his name.
There are only two possibilities for Fang Yuan's name to appear in the current examination papers.
Firstly, the Fang family had Fang Yuan copy the entire exam paper, replacing the original top-ranking paper.
Secondly, the Huiyuan Scroll is still the same scroll, only the name has been changed from Xu Mo to Fang Yuan.
Which one is it?
If it's the first one, and the Fang family has the ability to replace the entire exam paper, why would they use Xu Mo's handwriting instead of directly replacing it with Fang Yuan's?
This makes it seem more convincing that the paper for the top scholar was written by Fang Yuan himself, while the paper for the failure was written in Xu Mo's handwriting.
If it's the second one, it means that the scroll itself is difficult to cheat on. The Fang family relied on the copyist to operate inside, and then had Fang Yuan practice hard to imitate it, thus achieving the substitution of the dragon for the phoenix.
If this is the truth, there should be a discrepancy in the placement of the name on the examination paper.
Suppressing his excitement, Xu Mo took two steps forward, wanting to see the top scholar's exam paper with his own eyes.
The Prefect of Fengtian hesitated for a moment, but still spread out the exam paper, revealing the blank space at the beginning where names were to be anonymized.
Covering one's name with paste, as the name suggests, involves sealing one's name around the edges with glue. When you tear it off, some paper will inevitably come with it, but it's all around the edges. It's rare for someone to be so foolish as to cover their own name completely.
The name and place of origin on the examination paper in front of me are a bit wrinkled, as if a layer has been lightly scraped away, and even the two characters "Fang Yuan" are a bit smudged.
Xu Mo's hands trembled slightly.
He made the right bet. Although the Fang family was powerful, they hadn't reached the point of having absolute power.
The Imperial Examination Hall was fair, and the imperial examination itself was just; it was only through bribery and manipulation by those with ulterior motives that a scheme was deliberately orchestrated for several years.
They scheme against students from poor families, they bully ordinary people who have no one to rely on, and they abuse their power for personal gain.
Now, they're going to be disappointed!
Xu Mo took a few steps back to his position and said with high spirits, "Reporting to Your Excellency, I have discovered that the position of my name and place of origin on the examination paper has been modified. It is clear that someone deliberately changed my name to the current name. Please investigate this matter thoroughly."
The Prefect of Fengtian was slightly taken aback, his fingers tracing the spot where the name had been erased, his expression turning strange.
"My lord, please don't listen to this boy's nonsense." Butler Fang's expression was solemn. "When my young master was covering the name, his hand accidentally slipped and spilled some paste on it. He removed it and then covered the name again. It was not a modification."
"Sir, do you believe it? First, the handwriting was exactly the same, and then the position of the anonymous signature was changed. How could there be so many coincidences that the young master of the Fang family managed to have them all happen to him?" Xu Mo did not back down. "The Fang family only sent a steward. Is it because they look down on the Fengtian Prefecture's handling of cases, or is it because the Fang family's top scholar is not talented enough and they are afraid of a competition?"
The sharp wit of literary talents is fully revealed at this moment.
Both of the possibilities he mentioned were unfriendly to the Fang family, and either one was enough to make Butler Fang's expression change drastically.
It is a genuine color change.
"I, Xu Mo, hereby declare: if you're not convinced, you can challenge me. You can discuss the past and present, compose poems, or even retake the exam." Xu Mo sneered. "May I ask, does that young master of the Fang family dare?"
Do you dare?
Do you dare?
True talent cannot be hidden; no amount of cunning can take away ability.
After undergoing layers of emotional transformation, Xu Mo was almost reborn. He gained an understanding of the methods of aristocratic families and also realized the capabilities of the Fang family.
But no matter how dark the sky is, there will always be glimpses of light.
As long as you don't die, there's a chance.
"Why should we compete just because you want to?" After a brief moment of panic, Butler Fang also realized, "Does it mean that every student who jumps out gets a chance to compete with our young master? Is the top scholar here to compete with you? Who do you think you are, to challenge someone just like that?"
Xu Mo did not respond.
He had figured it out. The Fang family was thorough in their work. Apart from a slight flaw in their anonymity, everything else was impeccable. Even something as suspicious as identical handwriting was fabricated by the Fang family to make it seem like Xu Mo was maliciously imitating and provoking trouble.
Since continuing to argue won't bring any benefit, it's better to strike at the root and eliminate the problem completely—retake the exam, compete, and let strength speak for itself.
Now, it all depends on how the Prefect of Fengtian decides to rule.
“My lord, you have seen all the oversights. Instead of repeatedly agonizing over finding the truth, why not retake the exam? I am willing to accept any test, anywhere, alongside Young Master Fang,” Xu Mo said sincerely.
"My lord, our young master will not allow outsiders to slander and smear us. The fact that we have already been listed on the list is unfair to our Fang family, as we are being forced to re-compete because of some clown." The steward Fang retorted, also invoking the family's prestigious status as a form of intimidation.
The entire Fengtian Prefecture was eerily quiet; you could hear a pin drop.
All eyes were on the Prefect of Fengtian, some with anticipation, some with worry, and some with a sense of threat.
The old man, around fifty years old, had a trembling beard as he gripped the gavel in his large hand, unsure whether to drop it or not.
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