Chapter 365 Uncovering the Truth
All candidates entered the examination room and took their seats, waiting to have their exam papers distributed.
At this point, the examiners distributed a stack of blank papers, one for each of them.
This sudden procedure confused the test takers.
"Before the exam begins, I would appreciate your cooperation," an examiner said after clearing his throat. "Among you will surely become future scholars and officials. Before you reach that position, we hope to leave behind your calligraphy. Each of you should write two characters on a piece of paper, one with your right hand and the other with your left hand. You can write whatever you like."
The test takers instantly perked up.
After they become successful candidates in the imperial examinations, this piece of paper will definitely be framed and hung in the Huzhou examination hall so that all scholars can see it. It will be an honor for them.
All candidates picked up their brushes, ground the ink, dipped them in ink, and began to write.
Write one character with your right hand, then another with your left hand. It's only two characters, and you finish writing them quickly.
All the papers were collected and quickly sent to the study at the back. Led by the prefect, twelve examiners gathered, along with Cheng Wanwan, making a total of more than ten people. They spread out all the papers and examined and compared them one by one.
The cheat sheet was a palm-sized piece of light yellow paper covered with densely packed characters. The characters weren't very neat; someone who could pass the county exam and the first round of the prefectural exam would at least have decent handwriting. Clearly, it was written with the left hand. This person was somewhat intelligent, but only a little bit.
After writing down the original handwriting on the cheat sheet, Cheng Wanwan began to examine the two characters submitted by the candidates one by one.
With almost no effort, they flipped through the papers one by one, eliminating them one by one, until finally, three papers with suspicious handwriting remained.
The prefect's staff member was quite astonished: "May I ask how Madam Sui determined these three documents to be suspicious?"
"First, look at the handwriting on the cheat sheet. As a scholar, very few people would write such illegible characters, so I'm certain it was written with the left hand," Cheng Wanwan said briefly. "Each of his characters has similarities. For example, this dot—because it's a left hand, he's used to writing from bottom to top, so you can tell the difference in ink density. Next, look at the easiest thing to distinguish: the stroke order. The stroke order of characters with the same radical is a habit formed from childhood, ingrained in one's very being. This is a detail that's hard to avoid. These three strokes are almost identical in radical and stroke order to the handwriting on the cheat sheet..."
The prefect stroked his beard.
It is truly astonishing that Sui Ruren, a mere farmer and woman living in the village, possessed such knowledge.
He asked, "Then how do we distinguish these three handwritings? We can't just arrest all three of them and interrogate them, can we?"
With the exam approaching, questioning unrelated people will definitely affect the candidates' emotions, hinder their performance in the exam room, and could easily ruin their future.
Cheng Wanwan picked up the three pieces of paper, held them up to the light to examine them carefully, and then discarded one of them.
The last two are so similar in handwriting, the ink depth, the horizontal strokes and vertical hooks, the stroke order—whether written with the left or right hand, the characters are almost identical.
In modern times, it would probably require specialized instruments to distinguish them.
She asked softly, "What are their names? What rankings did they achieve in the first exam?"
The examiner next to him opened the record and said, "This is Li Zhou, ranked 197th in the first round. This is Huang Haoran, who ranked third in the last round."
Cheng Wanwan smiled: "Then let someone bring Li Zhou over."
In the second round of the prefectural examination, only the top two hundred will be selected as students. Li Zhou is ranked 197th, hovering on the edge of failing the exam. If he is not careful, he will fail. If Yu Zhan is not selected, he will move up one rank and have a better chance.
Yu Zhan's father, Yu Qingsheng, was condemned by everyone. It was not surprising that Yu Zhan committed cheating, nor did it elicit any sympathy.
So, this man named Li Zhou boldly devised this scheme.
The prefect's voice turned cold: "Bring Li Zhou here immediately!"
The examination room was very quiet. A stick of calming incense was burning in the incense burner. When the incense burned out, the exam officially began.
All the candidates gradually calmed down and waited for that moment to arrive.
Just then, two constables tiptoed into the examination hall, walked to Li Zhou's cubicle, pushed open the door, and said in a low voice, "The prefect has something to ask you. Please come with us."
The official spoke in a low voice and moved very quietly. Only a few candidates nearby heard the commotion, and it did not cause a large-scale negative impact.
As Li Zhou was forced to stand up by the two officers, a sense of fear suddenly arose in his heart.
He vaguely understood something, but he wasn't sure.
That Yu Zhan is Yu Qingsheng's son. Yu Qingsheng cheated in the capital and was personally ordered by the emperor to be disqualified from the imperial examination. Yu Qingsheng's son is naturally a scoundrel like him. The examiners would not waste their time investigating this matter. Why would they take him out of the examination room right before the exam? He must be overthinking it!
Thinking of this, Li Zhou took a deep breath, remained calm, and followed them to the study at the back.
Cheng Wanwan looked up at the person walking towards her and sneered. She actually knew this Li Zhou. He also stayed at the Yuelai Inn and had eaten and drunk with Shen Zheng and Qian Hui. They were on good terms. She never expected him to do such a despicable thing.
Li Zhou froze when he met Cheng Wanwan's cold gaze. This woman was in cahoots with Yu Zhan, so how could she be in the examination room?
Was it Yu Zhan's family who persuaded the prefect to investigate cheating before the exam?
"Come here," the prefect said coldly. "Is this your handwriting?"
Li Zhou didn't even glance at what the prefect was pointing to. He knelt on the ground with a thud, trembling, and said, "This isn't my handwriting, absolutely not! I've been wronged..."
“Your name is clearly written here.” Cheng Wanwan’s gentle voice rang out, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Li Zhou, look up.”
Li Zhou then noticed that the prefect was referring to the two characters they had just written. Each of them had signed their name in the lower right corner, and it was indeed his handwriting. He had written the two characters "勤勉" (diligence).
“Studying relies on diligence, not framing.” Cheng Wanwan shook her head. “If you tell the truth, the prefect might be lenient and save you some face. But if you resist stubbornly, you, Li Zhou, will soon be the next Yu Qingsheng.”
Li Zhou's eyes were filled with terror.
With so many eyes watching him, all scrutinizing him, he didn't know how to begin to explain himself.
He didn't even understand why they had come after him so quickly...
"Guards!" The prefect, still understanding, coldly ordered, "Lock him in jail and interrogate him immediately!"
"I confess! I confess!"
Li Zhou knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.
If he goes to jail, his life will truly be ruined.
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